Workshop on Data Science concludes

Islamabad

The three-day workshop on Data Science concluded on Friday with a pledge to continue holding such events to promote Data Science in Pakistan.

Organised by the Higher Education Commission (HEC), the workshop contained a keynote address by Director, National Centre for Supercomputing Applications, University of Illinois, Dr. Edward Seidel on emergence of Data Science as a new paradigm.

It also featured tutorials on various aspects of Data Science, talks by representatives of industry and academia, and presentations on importance of Data Science in different disciplines including Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities.

Besides that, the workshop provided networking and collaborative opportunities to local community and extended a platform to share thoughts and learn from domain experts, foreign professors, researchers and industry experts from US, China, UK, New Zealand and Australia.

Member Science and Technology and ICT at Planning Commission Dr. Athar Osama was chief guest in the closing ceremony. Dr. Arshad Ali, Executive Director HEC, was also present on the occasion.

In his speech, Dr. Athar Osama said Pakistan is a potentially data-rich country which requires effective use of data and make it publically available. He observed that real challenge facing the country is utilization of opportunity to use the data available.

He stressed the need for assessment of universities’ capability to have data and for collaboration among multiple disciplines to use the data. “We must leverage the opportunities lying in the area of Data Science,” he said while highlighting the significance of Data Science in every field.

Dr. Athar said the government intends to set up national centres on Data Science, artificial intelligence, and synthetic biology, adding that the Government is highly interested in collecting data so as to have real projects aligned with the local requirements. He informed that the Planning Commission is also considering the possibility of holding a conference on Data Science.

Appreciating the local and foreign participants of the workshop, Dr. Arshad Ali assured that HEC will give preferential consideration to any proposal regarding Data Science under its National Research Programme for Universities.

He maintained that HEC will always be supportive to future initiatives on Data Science. Availability of data on various issues of Pakistani society, which can be used by researchers and scientists, is very important for any work on Data Science, he underlined.

He also stressed the need for having volunteer faculty members who could be a part of any activity on Data Science in future. He informed that HEC plans to host the next event on Data Science in August 2018 so as to continue the series of activities on Data Science.