The University of Johannesburg’s (UJ) School of Consumer Intelligence and Information Systems (SCiiS) within the College of Business and Economics (CBE) launched its Centre for Applied Data Science on Friday, 7 October 2022.
The Centre, an initiative with the goal of fostering research and education in data-driven knowledge discovery, aims to bring together computer and domain scientists to promote and accelerate data-intensive teaching.
Says Prof Mercy Mpinganjira, the Director of the SCiiS (UJ): “While the focus of the Centre is primarily to infuse data science into the research and teachings. Research is an embedded aspect of the Centre as it is part of the academic department, and colleagues working in the Centre are academics and world-class researchers.”
Prof Mpinganjira highlighted that the Centre, a collaboration with TBS Education (France), will focus on infusing science study by promoting various institution-wide and outreach activities. “We look forward to expanding from these humble beginnings to be able to expand in supporting the continent, thus leaving the UJ vision of a university anchored in Africa,” says Prof Mpinganjira.
“We are particularly pleased because the partnership with TBS is already enabling the co-creation of valuable research and products across space and time. Attendees can get a glance at the ongoing AI research projects in post-harvest waste, integrate transport options in the City of Johannesburg, and even understand beverage consumption. They can also expect a demonstration of these co-creations and some insights into future research in the Centre.” says Prof Hossana Twinomurinzi, the Head of CADS.
Professor Tshilidzi Marwala, the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and artificial intelligence (AI) engineer, a computer scientist, and a mechanical engineer will be one of the keynote speakers at the launch event.