DSA is a registered Non-Governmanental Organization in Kenya. Since 2015, DSA has held an annual summer school and workshop to train participants on machine learning and data science methods and provide an avenue for researchers to present work demonstrating the application of these techniques to problems relevant in the African context.

Starting in 2018 with DSA Nyeri (East Africa) and DSA Abuja (West Africa), DSA holds two events annually with one in East Africa and the other in West Africa. This is in line with their goal to consolidate the regional community in East Africa while also expanding to other regions. The West African events are also aimed at creating a strong community of researchers in the region working across the linguistic boundaries between French and English speaking nations.

Data Science Africa is announcing a call to support research addressing local challenges in Africa. The research is aim to support up to ten pilot and early-stage research projects that leverage data science, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) methods to develop tools with broad societal benefits. Up to four projects responding to the immediate crises facing Africa due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the locust invasion in East Africa will be selected for expedited support.

Some Important Dates for the research awards are:

• Call announcement – 15th July 2020
• Applications open – 15th July 2020
• Deadline – 15th August 2020, 11:59 PM wherever you are
• Decision – 4th September 2020
• Project Duration – October 2020 to October 2021

The aim of this RFP is to provide access to resources currently limiting research productivity in Africa with a focus on data science research.

Scope and Impact

The proposed research should clearly address a problem affecting a local community in Africa and must have a positive impact. We encourage emerging scholars with diverse expertise and perspectives to apply to this opportunity.

Areas of interest include but are not limited to those mentioned below:

• Data science, and machine learning applications to
  • Agriculture: plant and animals disease diagnosis, and crop management
  • Health: disease diagnosis, disease management, health education, and mobile health tools
  • Environmental conservation etc
• Methods development: data science, AI, and machine learning
• COVID-19 research including, data collection and visualization tools, disease and economic modeling, impacts of COVID-19 on the health of women, girls, and children, misinformation, design and development of new tools and resources, etc.
• Research related to the locust invasion including, food insecurity, economic impact, etc

To submit a proposal, click here