After coming to the United States from Nigeria on a soccer scholarship and completing his undergraduate education, Yinka Ajibola PhDx’25 had a choice to make: “Do I want to pursue academics further, or do I want to go the sports route?” he asked himself.
Ajibola, motivated by his father’s work as a media officer for the United Nations in Africa, had developed a keen interest in how emerging technologies were harnessed on his home continent—and how those technologies affected the political and media environments in those countries. He decided to pursue those interests further with a double master’s in Political Science and Information Communication Sciences at Ball State University—and subsequently, by pursuing his PhD at the UW–Madison Information School.
“Africa is largely still a developing continent,” Ajibola said. “So I was asking, ‘How can I make a difference, whether big or small, in how these countries can effectively advance the use of information and communication technologies?’” One answer he found: through innovative research conducted at the iSchool.
Ajibola’s journey shows how the iSchool PhD program supports young researchers, helps them find their niche, and empowers them to conduct impactful research at the intersection of technology and humanity.
Studying the digital era in Africa
Digital technology is growing rapidly across Africa, but this development can be both exciting and challenging, Ajibola said. While many countries on the continent have seen some form of technology adoption, such as mobile payment systems, the breadth of technological adoption remains uneven. According to the World Bank, “Africa’s technological landscape is characterized by disparities, with certain regions experiencing rapid advancements while others lag.”
The unequal adoption of digital technologies has led to the creation and implementation of haphazard technology policies across different African countries, Ajibola said. Last year, Ajibola co-authored a scholarly book chapter entitled “Digital Ecosystem in Africa: Unfolding Regulatory Practices, Gaps, and Trends”. In it, the authors described the current digital landscape in Africa as shaped by “reactionary ad hoc policy strategies” and recommended more targeted, localized technology policies across Africa in the future, with the aim of “support[ing] the optimal participation of African countries in the digital revolution.”
Ajibola offered the current example of artificial intelligence policies, saying that emerging AI policies are often influenced by the European Union’s framework. He noted that while some African policies draw well-founded inspiration from the EU, it is important to avoid the “Brussels Effect”, in which EU regulations can have disproportionate influence on global policies.
“The EU’s policy can end up basically dictating other countries’ policies, which can make them both unoriginal and inapplicable in other places,” he said, given how significantly the historical, economic, and social contexts differ between the EU and African countries. As a solution, each country or region’s AI policy should be tailored to the unique context to which it applies, Ajibola suggested.
The gig economy in Africa
Within this context, Ajibola’s dissertation research looks at one group in Kenya that relies heavily on modern technology: gig workers. Specifically, he is focused on gig translators in Kenya, examining their use of translation technologies, the impact of policies (or lack thereof), and their degree of agency in their professional work. While traditional development indicators often focus on economic metrics like Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Ajibola highlights that other crucial indicators hidden beneath these statistics are frequently overlooked, so it’s essential to approach this with a wider lens. This means considering a larger range of indicators that encompass both economic and social dimensions, ensuring a more balanced approach.
“The unique perspective of my research is that I approach it from a socio-economic development perspective, combining various aspects of individuals and society,” Ajibola explained. “Instead of only emphasizing the technology, I also consider other elements such as policies and agency of individuals .” To this end, he hopes that his research will be harnessed by policymakers in African countries like Kenya to better tailor their policies toward their populations.
Finding community at the iSchool
With about a year remaining in his PhD program, Ajibola reflected on some of the influential people who have guided him along the way. He credited his advisor, Assistant Professor Reginold Royston, for engaging in thoughtful conversations about his research. “Those conversations really tend to unblock things for me,” he said. “Professor Royston has had an immense influence.”
Ajibola also expressed gratitude to iSchool Professor and Director Alan Rubel for always being willing to talk through philosophical concepts involved in Ajibola’s work, such as agency and autonomy (philosophy is an area of expertise for Rubel). “He has been a very key person for me, both through being on my committee and through the wonderful conversations we’ve had,” Ajibola said. He also thanked Adeola Agoke, a mentor in the African Cultural Studies department, in which Ajibola is completing his PhD minor. (Agoke directs the African Languages Program and serves as an assistant teaching professor.)
Finally, Ajibola spoke highly of the cohort who entered the iSchool’s PhD program alongside him. “My cohort is full of amazing folks,” he said, specifically mentioning Jacquie Kociubuk, and Tallal Ahmad. Most PhD students would agree that the challenges of graduate school can be softened with a supportive community of friends and colleagues. That’s what Ajibola found at the iSchool.
Looking forward
Regarding future research, Ajibola sees a fast-moving technological world rife with topics for him to study in the future. Particularly, he noted, the intersection of generative AI and language in Africa is proving to be a fascinating dynamic. “I was in Nairobi recently, and I noticed people are really using generative AI, but I wondered how well it was actually working for them,” he said. For example, ChatGPT technically operates in Swahili, but does it account for the cultural context and history involved in the Swahili language?
“Fluent speakers of Swahili were telling me that it can be useful, but it’s still lacking in many ways,” he said. “Interpretations are often incorrect or not context-relevant.” Looking ahead, Ajibola hopes to more deeply research how generative AI models currently integrate African languages and cultures, and how they could do so more effectively in the future.
To explore Yinka Ajibola’s research, visit his website.
For more information on the iSchool’s PhD in Information, visit its webpage.