Shoko Festival to host Africa's top digital media experts

TAKUDZWA HILLARY CHIWANZA 

The Hub Unconference, Zimbabwe's premier annual digital media conference, is back with an exciting lineup of speakers from four different African countries. 

Powerful digital media narratives ... All set for The Hub Unconference 2023

The conference, which is part of the Shoko Festival programme, will run from September 28 to 29 at Moto Republik, Harare. 

It will explore new trends in content creation, civic tech and progressive activism in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Shoko Festival is Zimbabwe's longest running festival of urban culture, featuring live concerts, comedy nights, spoken word, workshops and artist panels. 

The festival, which was founded by Magamba Network in 2011, celebrates and promotes free expression and politically conscious art. 

This year's theme is #TheTakeBack, which reflects the festival's aim to reclaim the narrative of urban culture and empower the voices of young people in Zimbabwe.

The Hub Unconference is a free-to-attend event that happens on the sidelines of the Shoko Festival. 

It is a platform for digital media enthusiasts, practitioners and innovators to network, learn and share ideas. 

The conference has assumed a new format this year, which will see it running for two days. The programming consists of an exciting cocktail of fireside chats, lightning talks, panel discussions and masterclasses.

Some of the highlights of the conference include:

• Cutting-edge talks by Christopher Kayonga and Timothy Chemonges from Open Parly UG (Uganda), Cayley Clifford from Africa Check (South Africa), Christine Rupiah from The Continent (South Africa), Peter Kimani from CODE for Africa (Kenya), Joscar Amondi from Social Technology Movement (Kenya), Mark Kuggundu from Defend Defenders (Uganda) and leading Zimbabwean academic Professor Admire Mare.

• Masterclasses on graphic design, fact checking, Tik Tok content and documentary-making.

• The Africa Satire Convention, which will feature some of the leading satirists in the country and on the continent. The convention will look at the power of satire in influencing the youths to participate in public processes like registering to vote.

• The Open Data Africa Summit, which will bring together bloggers, academics, leading activists and developers drawn from Africa's leading open data initiatives. The summit will host various panel discussions on topics such as journalism in the age of AI and media innovation in a captured environment.

The Open Data Africa Summit is being hosted with support from the Consortium to Protect Human Rights, Civic Freedoms and Media Development in sub-Saharan Africa (Charm Africa). 

The Charm Consortium has seven members which include Wits Journalism, Réseau des Femmes Leaders pour le Développement (RFLD), Defend Defenders, Civil Rights Defenders, Civicus, Fojo Media Institute and Magamba Network.

The Hub Unconference has hosted prominent local and international speakers in the past editions, such as Alice McCool (The Guardian UK), Robyn Kriel (CNN), Raheela Mohammed (Al Jazeera) and Lindiwe Zulu from the ANC among many others.

The Hub Unconference is a must-attend event for anyone interested in digital media and its impact on society. 

It is an opportunity to learn from some of the best minds in the field, network with peers and discover new possibilities for creativity and innovation. 

To register for the conference, visit the official website.