Radia's story

The Centre for Digital Language and Inclusion's work began in Africa, where millions of people with non-standard speech have had little access to assistive technology or speech therapy—and where most languages have been entirely absent from AI development. Starting with a successful pilot in Ghana, we've expanded across the continent, conducting innovation sprints in Kenya, Rwanda, and beyond.

In each location, we partner with local speech therapists, linguists, and communities to collect authentic speech data in native languages. These aren't just vocabulary lists—they're the words and phrases people actually use in their daily lives. Through intensive hackathons, we bring together local developers, researchers, and users to rapidly prototype applications that address real communication challenges. The result is a growing network of innovators who understand both the technology and the communities they serve, creating solutions that are culturally relevant, linguistically accurate, and built to last.

Above is Radia's story, in Accra Ghana who has been part of the project.