https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/142534 Mon, 27 Apr 2026 20:42:44 GMT 2026-04-27T20:42:44Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145478 Title: Bridging the digital divide in the global south through the global digital compact Abstract: The persistent digital divide poses a significant challenge to global equality and sustainable development, especially in developing countries. This study examines whether the Global Digital Compact (GDC) can help reduce these inequalities by achieving universal meaningful connectivity and promoting inclusive digital transformation. Using established development theories - Modernisation, Dependency, and the Capability Approach - this analysis goes beyond simple access issues to explore the complex nature of digital inequality. Data from major international organisations shows continuing gaps in infrastructure, affordability, skills, and internet use, particularly affecting vulnerable groups in the Global South. This research argues that for the GDC to achieve real change, it must move beyond inspiring statements to genuine power-sharing, prioritising local, community-led initiatives with strong financial and political support. The analysis identifies critical challenges including the 'capability trap', where skills lack opportunities for application, and the 'implementation cascade', where governance failures trigger systemic barriers across infrastructure, affordability, and human capital development. Whilst the GDC sets out ambitious goals and supports multi-stakeholder partnerships and digital public goods, its non-binding status, funding shortages, and political complications hinder effective implementation. The research reveals an intersectional blind spot in addressing compounded marginalisation and highlights unresolved tensions in global data governance. The study concludes that although the GDC provides an important normative framework, its success relies on sustained, people-focused action. This requires governments, civil society, and development partners working together, turning broad principles into specific, locally relevant policies that address systemic interdependencies rather than isolated symptoms. Description: M. CD(Melit.) Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145478 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145477 Title: Decolonizing artificial intelligence ethics : Ubuntu as a philosophical paradigm for AI governance in Africa Abstract: This dissertation examines the relevance of the African philosophy of Ubuntu to the ethical governance of artificial intelligence in African contexts. It analyses dominant global frameworks for AI ethics and governance and identifies conceptual and normative limitations in their engagement with African social values, communal worldviews, and historical experiences. The study adopts a qualitative, normative, and interpretive approach, drawing on African philosophical literature, international and regional policy documents, and expert interviews to assess how ethical assumptions are embedded in existing AI governance models. The analysis conceptualises Ubuntu as a relational ethical framework centred on personhood, collective responsibility, and interdependence, and examines how these principles challenge prevailing individual-centred approaches to AI ethics. It explores the implications of Ubuntu-informed ethics for data governance, accountability, and institutional design, with particular attention to policy and legal frameworks at national, regional, and continental levels. By positioning African philosophical thought as a source of normative reasoning rather than contextual adaptation, the dissertation contributes to discussions on ethical pluralism and legitimacy in AI governance. It concludes by identifying governance considerations relevant to African institutions and reflecting on the broader implications of Ubuntu-informed ethics for global debates on the responsible development and use of artificial intelligence. Description: M. CD(Melit.) Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145477 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145467 Title: Algorithms, chips & tariffs : prospects for multilateral AI governance in a fragmenting trade order Abstract: This study was conducted to investigate any realistic prospects that states will conclude a comprehensive multilateral AI governance framework in the near to mid-term (2025-2030). It was also aimed to ascertain which alternatives – regional, multilateral or industry driven frameworks – are most likely to fill the gap – if the multilateral framework does not materialise - and with what consequences for trade, security, and innovation. By lending conceptual and theoretical support for AI governance from global governance, international relations, techno-nationalism and path dependency theory, it was argued that there is limited literature directly connecting compute, chips and supply chains (the sources of strategic asset competition) with the outcomes of AI governance structures. Therefore, a qualitative, comparative research design was followed, grounded in case study methodology. Data was collected both from secondary and primary sources. Data collected from secondary sources was used to analyse two case studies i.e. the U.S. AI Action Plan and China’s Global AI Governance Action Plan. Primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews of four experts from academics, practitioners and policy making sides. Data collected from both the secondary and primary sources is analysed in two interconnected phases and triangulation is used to enhance the findings’ robustness. The study found that AI governance is shaped by competition over data, compute, chips and trade, and the possibility of a unified global AI governance framework is least likely. As an alternative, a bifurcated, yet overlapping governance system is emerging which has significant consequences for trade, innovation, and power hierarchies globally. The findings have a number of implications for practitioners and policy makers, and the study significantly contributes to the body of knowledge on AI governance. The study is conducted under certain limitations which are specified and accordingly directions for future studies are also given. Description: M. CD(Melit.) Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/145467 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/144593 Title: The transformation of antiquities creating the historic monument in Malta between the sixteenth and the early twentieth century Abstract: This study examines the complex process through which antiquities in the Maltese Islands were transformed into historic monuments between the sixteenth century and the early twentieth century. While the empirical material is drawn from Malta, the discourse under analysis situates the Maltese experience within the broader European experience. The research explores the social, political, and cultural conditions that shaped the valorisation of antiquities and their metamorphosis into monuments, focusing on material culture valued as testimony to a historical past. Using object biographies, the study traces the afterlives of a selected range of typologically diverse antiquities – including sarcophagi, tomb stones, inscriptions, coin hoards, ancient statues, architectural pieces – from their moment of discovery through successive reinterpretations. The transformation of these objects was neither linear nor uniform: distinct historical periods, particularly the era of the Order of St John and the British colonial administration, carried their own specificities that must be understood within their respective socio-cultural contexts. Because such changes were often gradual and imperceptible, the study adopts a broad temporal perspective, enabling a more intelligible narrative of how and why certain ancient objects came to be valued and monumentalized, and others lost. Employing a Grounded Theory framework, the research identifies distinct behavioural patterns and human actions – from entextualisation, visual representation, collecting, and display to emotional responses to loss and misuse – that collectively illuminate the processes through which antiquities were reimagined as historic monuments. Description: Ph.D.(Melit.) Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/144593 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z