Vodacom Lesotho has taken an active role in raising data security and management in the mountain kingdom.

Last week, the telco hosted a full-day data protection and management workshop.

Representatives of the Lesotho Communications Authority, the Central Bank of Lesotho, and other industry players, including financial services providers, attended the workshop, which was designed to foster discussions about industry best practices, regulatory compliance, and effective strategies for protecting consumer rights.

The telco's action comes at a time when data safety is vital owing to increased fraud and cybercrime.

Analysts believe that the ability to aggregate, store, process, and securely transfer data across borders is vital to the development of the digital economy and innovation.

They note that this requirement can be met by encouraging strong data protection and enforcement, as well as fostering interoperable systems to promote cross-border data flows, particularly those required for the development of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Speaking at the workshop, Mosa Thekiso, acting managing executive for regulatory and public policy at Vodacom Group, who is also in charge of artificial intelligence (AI), digital services, and platform regulation, said: “Vodacom Group serves over 200 million customers in Africa and in the last financial year we had zero privacy fines and cyber security critical incidents which is testament to our commitment to customers’ privacy beyond legal compliance.

“Workshops like the one we hosted today are important in ensuring that, while we are forging ahead from an innovation perspective (including through the deployment of data-driven AI tools), the industry at large is also keeping up with AI regulatory developments and trends and putting consumers first”.