Big Data for Development

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Project Background

The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences – Next Einstein Initiative (AIMS-NEI) received a 2-year funding from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) to implement the Harnessing Big Data to meet the Sustainable Development Goals – Building Capacity in the Global South.

AIMS-NEI agrees to partner with the Local Development Research Institute (LDRI) to create the regional hub for Africa and collaborate with other regional hubs in Asia and Latin America to form the Global South network for this project. Please click here to access the website for the Big Data for Development (BD4D) Research Network.

In order to bring big data to bear on Africa’s development agenda (i.e. Agenda 2063), the African hub of the network will capitalize and align the focus of its work to the African Development Bank’s High-Fives priorities (AfDB High-Fives). Against this backdrop the state of data for development in Africa needs improvement for implementation and public participation. At the same time human capital and infrastructure for data is thin and needs ramping up fast. As such the hub’s objectives will be to

  1. Increase the number of big data scientists on the continent through training and partnerships
  2. Catalyse research on big data in Africa to address policy, infrastructure, funding and human capital gaps
  3. Provide a platform for practitioners to network, learn and coordinate activities.

To achieve these objectives, the African hub will organize its activities in three general areas including

  1. Capacity Development
  2. Supporting Policy and Innovation
  3. Supporting Ongoing Research Initiatives.

Both AIMS-NEI and LDRI are committed to the Global South network project as we believe that it provides us with a great opportunity to build regional capacity in Data Science in Africa. It will also enable us to produce the required expertise to respond to the growing job market demand in Data Science across Africa.

Information for Potential Partners

Institutions interested in partnering with AIMS-NEI and LDRI for the BD4D project should contact the AIMS Industry Initiative team by sending an initial expression of interest to aii@nexteinstein.org. AIMS-NEI will respond to this and successful discussions will lead to formalised partnerships.

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