Dates: 16 – 22 November 2024
Location: Ravenala Attitude Hotel, Mauritius
Organizer: DS-I Africa Consortium (NIH-supported health data science initiative)
Overview
The 4th DS-I Africa Consortium Meeting convened researchers, data scientists, early-career scientists, and stakeholders from across Africa to advance collaboration and capacity building in data science for health. The meeting combined pre-meeting activities (Data Bootcamp and workshops) with core consortium sessions, plenaries, working group deliberations, and networking exchanges over a week in Mauritius.
Pre-Meeting Activities
Prior to the main sessions, the meeting featured intensive Data Bootcamp activities on Exploring Cancer Data, facilitated using tools such as the METABRIC dataset, Python, and the eLwazi Terra workspace. These hands-on sessions aimed to deepen participants’ analytical skills and proficiency in machine learning workflows relevant to health research.
Core Sessions and Workshops
The main portion of the meeting included a range of thematic workshops and working group meetings:
- Ethics & Generative AI Workshop focused on ethical implications of emerging AI technologies in health data science.
- Partnerships & Outreach, Training, Data Governance, and Data Management Working Group sessions addressed strategic coordination, capacity building, and governance challenges.
- Early Career Researcher (ECR) flash talks and poster presentations offered platforms for emerging scientists to share research insights and network with peers.
- Plenary sessions themed around data impact, innovative tools, and translation of research into practice featured project highlights in clinical research, public health data science, and AI integration for health outcomes.
The plenary presentations included contributions on topics such as bias in medical AI, polygenic risk scoring in African populations, and environmental health modelling, reflecting the breadth of research under the DS-I Africa umbrella.
Networking and Knowledge Exchange
A Networking Exchange/Poster Viewing event enabled researchers, projects, and startups to demonstrate tools, dashboards, and data science innovations. Exhibits included live demonstrations of analytics platforms such as eLwazi Open Data Science Platform, and prototype dashboards from projects like UZIMA-DS and MADIVA.
Attendees included a diverse mix of consortium members, speakers, facilitators, and travel awardees — spanning academic and research institutions, with representation across multiple African countries and projects.
Significance
The 4th Consortium Meeting reinforced the DS-I Africa Initiative’s commitment to accelerating data science capacity building, promoting ethical and collaborative research practices, and showcasing innovative analytics solutions relevant to health challenges in Africa. Through workshops, working group deliberations, and research exchanges, participants engaged in advancing tools and governance frameworks aimed at improving health outcomes across the continent.
