Understanding costs and benefits of data centers in South Africa
Introducing Samantha
Samantha is the Digital Rights Research Lead at the World Benchmarking Alliance. In her role, she leads the research of the Ranking Digital Rights Index that promotes freedom of expression and privacy on the internet by creating global standards and incentives for companies to respect and protect user’s rights. She holds a Masters in Quantitative Economics (Public Policy and Development) from the Paris School of Economics and takes an intersectional approach to climate and technology research and advocacy.
Fellowship Project
Samantha’s project focuses on the impact of data centers on the lives of the South African people. Data centers are key for connecting people to each other and to the internet to secure economic opportunities; however, they use a lot of energy and water, two resources that are scarce in South Africa. Using an intersectional approach, I will work with local climate activists to understand the benefits and costs of this technology for South Africa.