A team of 6 faculty and 22 students from Kabarak University attended the Data Science Africa 2023 Summer School and Workshop that was held at the University of Rwanda in Kigali from 8th - 12th May, 2023. The event was a huge success, with over 230 participants from 15 African countries, including Algeria, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, and Uganda.
The summer school and workshop provided training sessions on a variety of topics, including python programming, R programming, linear algebra, regression analysis, dimensionality reduction, natural language processing, reinforcement learning, computer vision, data wrangling, data engineering, data visualization, and machine learning model deployment. The workshop sessions also featured presentations of research works in agriculture, health, climate, and natural language processing.
The event was graced by several distinguished guests, including the Vice Chancellor of the University of Rwanda, Dr. Didas Kayihura Muganga, the chair of Data Science Africa, Prof. Ciira Maina, DSA Advisory Board Chair, Prof. Neil Lawrence of the University of Cambridge, the head of the African Center for Excellence in Data Science, Prof. Charles Ruranga, CEO Edge Impulse, Jan Jongboom, and the CEO of Sunbird AI, Dr. Earnest Mwebaze.
Kabarak University played a significant role in the event, with Dr. Andrew Kipkebut facilitating the Natural Language Programming training session, Mr. Charles Mwangi teaching R programming, regression analysis, and dimensionality reduction, Ms. Daisy Kiptoo, an Msc student, teaching Machine Learning Model Deployment, and Mr. David Saruni and Mr. Emmanuel Chesire, undergraduate students, handling the Natural Language Processing Labs. Dr. Pamela Kimeto, Senior Lecturer in Nursing, chaired the workshop sessions in health, while Dr. Moses M Thiga, Senior Lecturer in Information Technology, was the event Program Chair.
