The partner organizations of the Big Data for Development network met in Kigali within the framework of the Big Data for Development Innovation Challenge, organized by AIMS-NEI.
Given that the Big Data for Development Innovation Challenge, organized by the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences – Next Einstein Initiative (AIMS-NEI), in partnership with the International Development Research Center (IDRC), was taking place, the partner organizations of the Big Data for Development Network (BD4D) organized a workshop to present the progress of the second year of implementation of the initiative and its future projections.
On September 9, 2019, the Big Data for Development Innovation Challenge was held in Kigali, Rwanda, which seeked to support young African data scientists to develop innovative solutions using new and non-traditional data sources to address development challenges.
This scenario was a great opportunity for the Hub leaders of the Big Data for Development initiative to organized an internal workshop, on September 11-12, where they shared experiences and strategically plan the future actions of the network.
The strategy exchange and development workshop was attended by representatives of the five partner organizations –LIRNEasia, the Local Development Research Institute (LDRI), the African Institute for Mathematical Science (AIMS), The Center of Internet and Society (CIS) and Cepei, from 3 regions: Asia, Africa and Latin America. The International Development Research Center (IDRC) of Canada, was also present, as the network’s sponsoring partner.
Among the topics addressed were the following:
- Regional, inter-regional, and global priorities and strategies
- Strategic interests and focus areas of partner organisations
- Funding opportunities for the next phase
- Key priorities for the network and next steps to elaborate the joint proposal
- Individual hub key updates and achievements: work done so far and learnings Communication and outreach plan for the year ahead
- Strategy document on gender and big data