With more than 100 sessions across four days, the Global Data Festival and Kenya Space Expo & Conference covers a lot of ground. The Festival & Expo has been designed to bring diverse communities together. Sessions will spark innovation and uncover new ideas and opportunities as you engage with experts and practitioners you wouldn’t usually sit next to. 

With such a vast program, this guide is designed to help you find your footing. Our experts working across our various development challenges have compiled information on the sessions they think will be of interest to you, and what they'll be watching for across the four days. 

Whether you're interested in climate change, agriculture data and food security, AI and emerging technology, or inclusivity, this is your perfect starting point. See where it takes you. Some of the best moments at an event like this happen when you follow a recommendation into a room you wouldn't otherwise have entered.

Explore the full program here.

colourful cutouts to represent inclusivity by KatieRainbow/Pexels

Fatuma's guide on inclusive data

Looked at through the lens of inclusive data, the overall story of the Festival & Expo feels rooted in a single idea: that technology, AI, statistics, and space systems are ultimately about people. Across the agenda, there's a strong focus not just on innovation itself, but on who gets to shape these systems, who benefits from them, and what kinds of leadership and partnerships are needed to make them more equitable and accountable. Read more...

Farming land by Martin Yegon/Unsplash

James's guide on agriculture data

The Festival & Expo is one of the few moments in the calendar where people working on very different parts of the agrifood data system actually share a room. National statistics offices, community-led initiatives, civil society, government, and private sector actors don't naturally speak a common language around data — and the structured collision the Festival & Expo creates is genuinely hard to replicate elsewhere. Read more...

Dark room with rays of blue light. Robynne/Unsplash

Janet's guide on AI and emerging technology

From an AI and data governance perspective, the Festival offers a uniquely practical and globally grounded conversation about how countries can shape digital and AI futures that work for them. Rather than treating AI as a standalone technology, the programme connects it to the broader systems that make equitable innovation possible: strong public data systems, governance, interoperability, institutions, partnerships, and public trust. Read more...

Coloured rows by John Schaidler/Unsplash

Annita's guide on climate data 

Climate data work rarely happens in neat disciplinary boxes. The sessions at this year's Festival & Expo reflect that: they cut across agriculture, health, disaster risk, and early warning systems, and they bring together practitioners who don't always share a stage. By examining these interconnected topics, which are often addressed in isolation, the sessions aim to break down silos and promote more integrated, holistic approaches. Read more...

Initiatives