Paul Plantinga is a Senior Research Manager at the Human Sciences Research Council in South Africa. He is currently leading projects on digital policy and platforms and on evidence-informed policymaking. This includes an EU-funded initiative to expand digital participation in local government planning in South Africa and establishing the African Observatory on Responsible Artificial Intelligence (AI). He manages and contributes to various projects, committees, and networks related to open government, civic tech, evidence synthesis, public sector innovation, and African AI policymaking.

Between 2012 and 2016, he led open innovation and open data work at The Innovation Hub, an agency of the Gauteng Provincial Government. Prior to this he worked as a solution architect and engineer in the telecoms industry. He has Masters's and Honours degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand and a PhD in ICT governance with the Centre for Organisational and Social Informatics at Monash University.