First Africa Data Science Conference held at Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½
- Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ University
The future of AI and data science on the continent must address local context, constraints, opportunities, and aspirations.
Africa’s first data science conference brought together academics, postgraduate students, early-career researchers, industry practitioners, policymakers, innovators, professional bodies, public-sector stakeholders, technology partners, and the wider data science community at Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ University,
Themed African Data Science, for Africa, the Conference (ADSC 2026) aimed to advance research, strengthen postgraduate development, deepen industry engagement and promote responsible, context-aware data science and artificial intelligence. ADSC 2026 focused on the role of data science in addressing Africa’s social, economic, institutional, technological, and developmental questions.
“There is a hunger for data science solutions for African challenges. This Conference is grounded in the belief that Africa’s data science future must be shaped by African realities, African talent, African institutions, and African priorities,” says Dr Farai Mlambo, Conference Chair. He added that one of the Conference highlights was the ‘Employability’ session, which drew more than 400 undergraduate and graduate participants to engage with industry representatives on opportunities for qualified data scientists.
The Conference is a continental platform for scholarly exchange, practical engagement, interdisciplinary collaboration, and long-term capacity-building in data science, artificial intelligence, statistics, analytics, and digital transformation.
Professor Lynn Morris, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research & Innovation, says ADSC 2026 is a vibrant, relevant, and very timely conference.
“The level of participation reflects a clear appetite for a serious African platform devoted to the future of data science, and it really signals something important, that data science and artificial intelligence are no longer peripheral or specialist concerns; they are now central to how universities conduct their research, how industries and universities innovate, how governments make decisions, how societies respond to conflict challenges, and how young people imagine their futures,” she said.
She added that data science is truly transdisciplinary and helps people to understand each other and to solve problems. “In Africa, we have many complex problems to solve, like disease surveillance, public health systems, climate resilience, food security, inclusive growth, digital infrastructure, financial access, governance, education, urbanisation, energy transitions, youth unemployment, and responsible technological transformation, and these are all things that Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ University is engaged in. These are not problems that can be solved by a single discipline.”
Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ University’s Vice-Chancellor and Principal, said the Conference recognises the importance of academic partnerships to leverage global resources.
“It is quite inspiring to see the next generation of core leaders in data science and their commitment to driving data science research and collaboration,” he said.
Dr Taariq Surtee, Organising Committee Chair, said the Conference has been carefully designed not only as a scholarly gathering but as a full delegate experience that supports learning, collaboration, networking, professional development, and institutional partnership.
The programme combined scientific research presentations, keynote addresses, expert panel discussions, practical half-day workshops, poster engagement, technology exhibitions, employability-focused dialogue, and structured networking opportunities. It was designed to create meaningful interaction between theory and practice, enabling researchers, practitioners, institutions, and decision-makers to exchange knowledge, identify shared challenges, and explore collaborative solutions.
“Data science is an equalising playing field where Africa can compete with the rest of the world. What is unique about this Conference is we built in a strong industry component that can teach the next generation how to be a good data scientist,” he added.
Prize Giving
The Prize Giving event also recognised the excellence across selected conference categories, including outstanding posters, oral presentations, postgraduate contributions, and other notable achievements identified through the ADSC 2026 programme.
Winners:
Best Overall Oral Presentation
Winners: Marike Kluyts, Caryn McNamara, Tanya Coetzee and Eleni Flack-Davison
Presented by: Marike Kluyts and Caryn McNamara
Paper title: Contextual mapping of the Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ AI policy development and training environment: Challenges and opportunities
Best Postgraduate Oral Presentation
Winners: Lehlohonolo Moloi and Edward Nkadimeng
Presented by: Lehlohonolo Moloi
Paper title: Testing the Necessity of Rationality in Macroeconomic Dynamics through a Monte Carlo Comparison of Real Business Cycle Models and the Bak–Chen–Scheinkman–Woodford Self-Organized Criticality Framework
Best Poster Presentation
Winners: Jose Francisco de Oliveira, Jean-Pierre Caliste and Imaculada Quinda
Presented by: Jose Francisco de Oliveira
Poster title: A Virtual Museum Prototype for Archaeological Heritage in Benguela Province