Date/Time
Date(s) - 23/09/2022
4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Data Science Career Talk organized by the IASC African Members Group (September 2022)
Title: Data Science Career Talk organized by the IASC African Members Group
Summary: IASC African Members Group presents a 90 minutes Data Science Career Talk on the theme “The importance of Data Science to academics and industry with Nigeria experience” on 23rd September, 2022.
Talk 1: The importance of Data Science to academics with Nigeria experience
Abstract: Conventionally, academic disciplines are divided into humanities, natural science, social science, formal and applied science, all revolves around data. Data is everywhere, like human, it is a living thing, it lives and die. Thus, it is imperative to understand the science behind its existence – Data Science. The important of data science ranges from efficient understanding of gigantic (big) data from multiple sources and deriving valuable insights to make smarter data-driven decisions and solutions. People and systems generate new data at over 7.5 sextillion gigabytes per day, and it is estimated that about 1.145 trillion megabytes of data are produced daily which makes it easier than ever before to collect and warehouse data. Across the globe, about 1400 colleges and universities uses predictive analytics to improve low graduation rates, readdress college experience, and guide students through a direct, data-driven path to graduation with lesser dead ends and erroneous turns. Data science is widely useful in various industry domains, including health, education (academic inclusive), agriculture, marketing, finance, policy work, and more. Harnessing the prowess of data science in academic will bring about numerous benefits such as structured database from which several industries can draw data and make sustainable decisions which in turns serve as revenue for the education sector, as well as the enhancement of a credible and actionable research work. Moreso, most local, national, continental, and global problems can be solved through quality data management culture in the field of academics.
Keywords: Data, Data Science, Academics, Insight generation, big data.
Speaker 1 Bio
Ayobami Adegoke Iyanda has a background in Statistics from the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. Passionate about data management, data governance, strategic and evident-based decision making, and sustainable development. He has participated in qualitative and quantitative data management, State’s Census and Survey (Lagos and Kaduna), development projects and programmes, GIS Innovations, data management for individuals and corporate organizations. Currently a Data Science Fellow in Kaduna, Nigeria.
Talk 2: The importance of Data Science to industry with Nigeria experiences
Abstract: While software development remains the most common programming career in the most countries, the popularity of data science in Nigeria has steadily grown over the years as more Nigerians become enthralled by its potential and gainfully engaged in the sector. Data is more prevalent than ever in the world we live in today. According to statistics, Nigeria has the third-most software engineers in Africa. Nigerian developers have become highly sought after locally and globally. Conglomerates like Facebook, Microsoft and Apple have been the main recruiters of Nigerian tech talent in recent years. Nonetheless, there is much to be excited about as the number of people and corporations interested in the science grows.
Speaker 2 Bio
Blessing Bassey Afolayan graduated from the University of Ilorin with a degree in mathematics. She also holds two master’s degrees, one in mathematical sciences from the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), and the other in machine intelligence from the African Masters in Machine Intelligence (AMMI). Her research focuses on computer vision, natural language processing, and application of general machine learning. Additionally, she completed an international internship at CMU in the USA last summer where she worked on a multi-modal learning task (NLP and CV). i.e. how text and visuals are related. She also collaborated with the Smart Agriculture Innovative Center at KNU to create intelligent systems that would enhance resilient and sustainable agricultural production through the use of various AI tools. She is currently employed as a Data Scientist at 54gene, where she hopes to use a data-driven approach in pharmaceutical research and development to close a huge gap in the worldwide genomics market. This could lead to new medical advancements and innovative healthcare solutions.
Date: Friday 23rd September 2022
Time: 400pm – 5:30pm CET (3:00pm-4:30pm WAT)
Duration: 90 minutes
Speaker 1: Ayobami Adegoke Iyanda
Speaker 2: Blessing Bassey Afolayan
Penalist/Co-organizer: Dr Adenomon Monday (adenomonmo@nsuk.edu.ng)
Penalist/Co-organizer: Timothy A. Ogunleye (timothy.ogunleye@uniosun.edu.ng)
Penalist/Co-organizer: Dr Anthony Ekpo (ekpo.anthony@uam.edu.ng)