Workshop on Data Science in Africa

(Niyeri, Kenya) The three-day workshop, comprised of lecutures and lab excerise, aims to bring together leading researchers and practitioners working on data science methods or applications relevant to Africa, and to provide training on state of the art data science methods to students and others interesting in developing practical skills. More information about the workshop available online at: https://sites.google.com/site/dekutdatascienceworkshop2015/

The last few years have witnessed an explosion in the quantity and variety of data available in Africa, produced either as a by-product of digital services, from sensors or measuring devices, satellites and from many other sources. A number of practical fields have been transformed by the ability to collect large volumes of data and we are just beginning to understand the practical possibilities. Data science seeks to exploit advances in machine learning and statistics to make sense of the growing amounts of data available from various sources. In Africa, a number of problems in areas such as healthcare, agriculture, disaster response and wildlife conservation would benefit greatly if domain experts were exposed to data science techniques. These skills would allow practitioners to extract useful information from these abundant sources of raw data.

The workshop currently has confirmed participants from the following institutions:

• Dedan Kimathi University of Technology
• Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX) – United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
• IBM Research Africa
• iHub Nairobi
• International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology
• Kenya ICT Authority – Open Data Initiative
• Makerere University AI Research
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Pulse Lab Kampala (UN Global Pulse)
• University of Pretoria
• University of Sheffield

To participate in the workshop please submit a short abstract to the organisers by email at  ciira.maina@dkut.ac.ke or jquinn@cit.ac.ug.