The space of Artificial Intelligence and robotics is underrepresented in Africa mainly due to resource limitations and skill gap. However, according to a research conducted by Alliance4AI, Africa’s young entrepreneurs and developers are rising above the resource constraints by adopting machine learning, data science, robotics and Artificial Intelligence to create ingenious products to solve local problems. Ai Kenya aims to help bridge the skill gap by harnessing the data science, machine learning, Artificial intelligence and robotics expertise to promote organizational and social growth and transformation. As we turn 2 years in the journey towards realizing this mission here are some of our accomplishments for the year 2019.
Events highlight
2019 was a fruitful year for Ai Kenya Community with an increase of membership from 1500 in 2018 to more than 3500 people. It was also the year that we hosted more than 14 events spread across the year. Working with partners both locally and internationally Ai Kenya hosted various events aimed at achieving its mission of democratizing machine intelligence in the region. Other than hosting events Ai Kenya also participated in various other events aligned with its mission including World AI Show, Deep Learning Indaba 2019, AI and IOT summit East Africa, Tech For Security Summit by Uber, and the recently concluded Asian E-tailing Summit 2019.
Below are highlights of the 2019 events organized by AI Kenya:
- Creating risk models for loan default prediction: In the year’s first event AI Kenya hosted data scientists and machine learning experts in a hands-on session focused on solving a loan default prediction challenge with guidance of an experienced data scientist. The event coverage video is available here
- Fast AI study group: This was an event aimed at growing machine learning and deep learning skills of the community members by encouraging participation in Fast Ai (a free online course).
- Self-driving cars: This was one of AI Kenya’s show and tell events series aimed at demonstrating how self-driving cars work and how one can get started. Show and tell events provide a platform for guest speakers to showcase their projects and get feedback from community members.
- Fireside chat with Olubayo Adekanmbi: This was a fireside chat on high-impact Artificial Intelligence: capacity building for businesses and social use cases featuring Olubayo Adekanmbi the convener of Data Science Nigeria.
- Building Secure Voice Biometrics with Ryan Roberts: In the second show and tell event, AI Kenya hosted Ryan Roberts who lead a code walkthrough/demo demonstrating how to characterize and visualize key performance characteristics of a binary classifier, before giving a demonstration of the Voice Biometrics technology in action.
- Majadiliano Townhall meetings featuring Babusi Nyoni: This was a capacity building event in which AI Kenya partnered with Majadiliano to host a series of town hall meetings across 6 different locations in Kenya (Kisumu, Miwani, Kakamega, Siaya, Mombasa, and Nairobi ).
- Discovering Social Robotics with Furhat: In our third show and tell event, We hosted Preben Wik who introduced and interacted with Furhat (an advanced social robot) on stage, providing insight into the future of AI & Social Robotics and what role Furhat will play in impacting people’s lives.
- Fundamentals in R: In collaboration with Africa R Users, AI Kenya hosted its second hands-on training event focused on introducing members to R programming Language. Video coverage for this event is available here
- Data Wrangling in R: This was a continuation of our previous event on Fundamentals in R focused of data wrangling using R programming language.
- The Hive: The future of youth leadership: AI Kenya represented by Alfred Ongere, shared views on the digital economy and how youth need to take advantage of opportunities in technology.
- Data Wrangling in R 2.0: This event was a continuation of the past event on introduction to Data wrangling in R. It focused on workings of control structures and related functions.
- Cape to Nairo datathon: This was a data science and machine learning hackathon where data scientists from Cape Town (South Africa) and Nairobi (Kenya) went head-to-head to solve a business problem. More about this event is available here
- The great hack: In collaboration with Alliance Francaise Nairobi, AI Kenya hosted a public screening event of a documentary about the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal with the aim of exploring some of the impacts of artificial intelligence on data privacy and data protection.
Sponsors
Through its partnership program Ai Kenya has worked with various individuals, companies and government bodies aligned to its mission of democratizing machine intelligence locally and regionally. It is through the partnerships and support from our sponsors that our activities and events have been made possible. For this reason, Ai Kenya wishes to extend its gratitude to the partners who ensured the success of its activities in 2019 and recognize those who continue to support in one way or another.
Content Partner
Content sponsor
Achievements
AI Kenya was recognized at Nairobi Tech Week (NTW) for being among the first in Kenya to create awareness about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and for creating a space for AI specialists and aspiring AI specialists to connect with each other and advance their careers. Nairobi Tech Week is an annual technology event for product makers bringing various actors and influencers within the tech ecosystem to one space to exhibit the forefront of innovation and technology.
Speakers and Mentors of the Year
Through our mentorship program, we have worked with various individuals who come on-board to share their knowledge and expertise around data science, machine learning, Artificial Intelligence and robotics. For this reason, Ai Kenya wishes to recognize the individuals who contributed immensely by offering their skills, knowledge, and time towards realizing the community’s mission. Below are the key persons who supported the community in different capacities including mentorship, training and capacity building.
Code Maktaba Speakers of the year
Show and Tell Speakers of the year
Public screening speakers of the year
Fireside Chat speaker of the year
Town Hall Meetings speaker of the year
Next Year Plans
We will be rolling out a consulting arm for Ai Kenya, an agency that will offer data science and machine learning services to businesses and institutions in the country. Watch out for an announcement by end of Q1. We will also introduce more interesting event types to keep challenging and inspiring the public and industry on matters data science, machine learning and robotics.
End year party
The end year party was Ai Kenya’s first community-owned event where we reflected on how 2019 has been and celebrated our achievements so far. The event which was entirely sponsored by community members through individual donations was full of fun activities and networking. We reminisced on the year that was, played some interactive games, shared our plans for next year, enjoyed refreshments and drinks and closed with some crazy African dance moves. Photos of the end year party are available on our Facebook page. We also recognized some of the hardworking team members who have voluntarily dedicated their time and skills to ensure that Ai Kenya activities and operations are successful. The team members were awarded as follows:
Eugene Oduma: Eugene was recognized for his dedication towards creating and sharing relevant content with community members both on the website and social media platforms as well as representing Ai Kenya in various capacities.
George Kamau: George was recognized for his dedication towards ensuring smooth running of Community activities through operations coordination.
Wanjiku Macharia: Wanjiku was recognized for her dedication towards coordinating and planning AI Kenya events.
Caroline Muchemi: Caroline was recognized for her dedication towards event planning and community mobilization.
Abigail Nzambi: Abigail was recognized for her dedication towards ensuring that AI kenya events run smoothly
Lewis Gitau: Lewis was recognized for his dedication towards documenting Ai Kenya activities and events through photography.
Finally, we understand that there is a lot to be done in regards to harnessing data science, machine learning, and robotics expertise as well as improving the understanding of AI. However, as Nelson Mandela said: “Remember to celebrate milestones as you prepare for the road.” As we plan and aspire for an even more successful 2020, we want to express our sincere gratitude to the community members, sponsors, partners, team members, and mentors who made 2019 a success.
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