# African Digital Sovereignty Observatory — Data Taxonomy & Index Engine

[![Observatory](https://img.shields.io/badge/Coverage-55%20AU%20Member%20States-blue.svg)](#)
[![Legal Framework](https://img.shields.io/badge/Treaty-AU%20Malabo%20Convention-gold.svg)](#)
[![Methodology](https://img.shields.io/badge/Framework-ITU%20GCI%20%2B%20Sovereignty%20Index-green.svg)](#)

## 1. Research Overview & Mandate
The **African Digital Sovereignty Observatory** is an empirical research initiative mapping the digital autonomy, legal readiness, and technological infrastructure of all 55 African Union member states.

### The 4 Pillars of Digital Sovereignty:
1. **Legal & Regulatory Readiness (30%):** Ratification of the Malabo Convention, enactment of domestic data protection acts, establishment of an independent Data Protection Authority (DPA), and AI regulatory guidelines.
2. **Infrastructure Autonomy (25%):** Domestic Tier-III/IV sovereign data center capacity, national Internet Exchange Points (IXPs), submarine cable redundancy, and fiber-optic backbone sovereignty.
3. **Cybersecurity & Threat Defense (25%):** Operational National Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERT/CSIRT), critical information infrastructure protection (CIIP) laws, and military/civilian cyber defense doctrine.
4. **Local Innovation & Tech Agency (20%):** Local talent density, sovereign cloud initiatives, public digital public goods (DPGs), and research funding in AI and computational systems.

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## 2. Directory Structure
```
sovereignty-observatory/
├── README.md                           # Research methodology & index criteria
├── data/
│   └── sovereignty_index_sample.json   # Multi-state comparative dataset (ECOWAS, EAC, SADC)
└── core/
    └── scoring_engine.py               # Empirical weighted composite scoring engine
```

## 3. Link with Policy Brief #02
This observatory provides empirical grounding for Policy Brief #02: *"Cybersecurity as Foreign Policy in Africa: Operationalizing the Malabo Convention in the Multilateral Era"*.