Chijioke Okorie is an NRF C2-rated researcher and principal investigator of the Data Science Law Lab, a group advancing legal research to provide evidence and policy advice for data science growth across Africa. She is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Private Law at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. Okorie led development of the Nwulite Obodo Open Data License for equitable sharing of African datasets; serves as Associate Editor of the South African Intellectual Property Law Journal; and has authored numerous articles on intellectual property and information justice in Africa.
Before transitioning to full-time research and policy consulting, she was a Senior Associate at a leading commercial law firm in Lagos, Nigeria. As Lead Advisor at Penguide Advisory, she directs research, training, and legal services in intellectual property and emerging technologies for clients including governments, agencies, companies, non-profits, and entrepreneurs in Nigeria, Africa, and internationally.
Okorie holds a PhD in intellectual property and competition law from the University of Cape Town, an LLM in Internet Law and Policy from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, and an LLB from Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Awka, Nigeria. She was called to the bar as an advocate and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 2006.
