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Short abstract:

The paper discusses data sharing practices on human mobility in and from West Africa. Drawing on extensive interviews, it offers empirical insights into national and regional data sharing systems. Emphasis is placed on the influence of risk, potentially leading to exclusionary practices.

Long abstract:

While the datafication of human mobility is a globally pervasive trend, it remains deeply influenced by contextual nuances that offer valuable insights into the (dis)continuities and ambivalences of this process. Moving from an infrastructural understanding of data circulation, this paper aims to present a cartography detailing the actors, data flows, and infrastructural entanglements shaping the datafication of human mobility in and from West Africa.

Drawing upon a hundred interviews conducted across Senegal, Mauritania, and Ivory Coast, this study seeks to provide an empirical contribution to the understanding of data sharing systems pertaining to mobility at both national and regional levels. By tracing the fragmented yet interconnected threads of this evolving landscape, it sheds light on the rapidly changing dynamics therein.

The analysis unfolds along three key axes. Firstly, it delves into the circulation of data concerning human mobility, spanning civil registries, bordering practices, and humanitarian assistance, discussing the ambiguities of this continuum. Here, a comprehensive mapping of involved actors, as well as the programs, agreements, and digital infrastructures mediating their interactions, is proposed.

Secondly, the study explores the diverse and overlapping purposes driving data circulation (statistical predictions, situational awareness, prevention strategies, identification processes). Emphasis is placed on how the notion of risk shapes such circulation, potentially resulting in marginalising, exclusionary and de-humanising practices.

Finally, situated within a region marked by porous borders, this analysis aims to reflect on the inherent frictions of the coexistence of datafied and alternative forms of mobility governance, often resulting in simultaneous data voids and overflows.