Data Collaboratives for Local Impact (DCLI) and Tanzania Data Lab (dLab), in partnership with the U.S. Government’s President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief award full scholarships for University of Dar es Salaam Students

Dar es Salaam, TANZANIA. Data Collaboratives for Local Impact (DCLI) and Tanzania Data Lab (dLab) through The U.S. Government’s President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) have awarded full scholarships to four students admitted to the inaugural class of the new two-year Master of Science in Data Science (MSDS) program at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), College of Information and Communication Technology (CoICT). Mr. Stephen Chacha, DCLI Country Coordinator for Tanzania officially announced the recipients of the four scholarships, competitively selected from 22 applicants, two of whom are women. 

“The aspiring data scientists have committed to apply the skills they will gain on finding ways to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Tanzania. For example, nearly half of Tanzanians living with AIDS are unaware of their status; we hope the PEPFAR scholars can find data-based and innovative ways to focus specific intervention or strategically place testing locations to change this statistic!” said Mr. Chacha.

The scholarships are the result of a fruitful relationship between the University of Dar es Salaam College of Information and Communication Technology (UDSM CoICT) and the Tanzania Data Lab (dLab). A memorandum of agreement was recently signed extending CoICT’s commitment to host the dLab for at least five more years. The dLab will support CoICT’s in launching the Masters of Science in Data Science (MSDS), the first such Masters in Data Science in East Africa.

On his part, Dr. Honest Kimaro, CoICT Head, Computer Science and Engineering Department, on behalf of CoICT’s Principal, Dr. Mussa Kissaka, said the programme aims to develop skills in machine learning, advance data management, data analytics, and data visualization which are in high demands in the industry and public sector.

“We believe with the establishment of the MSDS programme, we will be able to meet the growing demands for data scientists at various levels including professionals, consultants and researchers, in an endeavor to fill current country knowledge and skill gaps in the data science sub-discipline,” said Dr. Kimaro. 

On her part, as one of the PEPFAR Scholars, Ms. Upendo Mchome, applauded PEPFAR and CoICT for the opportunity and saying the progamme will spur decision making, and help bringing up more interventions especially in the area of HIV/AIDS. 

“Data is the key factor that need to be considered when making decisions, therefore this programme will help us gain the skills in data collection and analysis, so that we can share them to the decision makers,” noted Ms Upendo. 

The dLab was established by the DCLI program, funded by the U.S. Government’s President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and implemented by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). DCLI engages and builds skills among individuals, communities and organizations to solve problems related to HIV/AIDS, health, gender equality and economic growth.

CoICT created the MSDS in response to the interest generated amongst students on campus by the activities of the dLab, broadly among Tanzanian youth. To support the establishment of the MSDS, DCLI enabled a partnership between the dLab and the University of Virginia Data Science Institute to ensure that the MSDS program can access a global experience base in applied data science. CoICT faculty and students will be able to take online classes, collaborate on research, and network to solve pressing problems.

 The University of Dar es Salaam, College of Information and Communication Technology, Head of Computer Science and Engineering Department, Dr. Honest Kimaro (2ndR) speaks during a ceremony to award full PEPFAR scholarships for the two-year Master of Science in Data Science to UDSM-CoICT students. With him are Ms. Meredith C. Falion, PEPFAR Political and Private Sector Associate (Right), Mr. Stephen Chacha, The Data Collaborative for Local Impact (DCLI) Country Program Coordinator (2ndL) and Tanzania Data Lab (dLab) Director of Research and Innovation, Mr. Agapiti Manday (1stL).

 Mr. Stephen Chacha, The Data Collaborative for Local Impact (DCLI) Country Program Coordinator (2ndL) speaks during a ceremony to award full PEPFAR scholarships for the two-year Master of Science in Data Science to UDSM-CoICT students. With him are Ms. Meredith C. Falion, PEPFAR Political and Private Sector Associate (Right), the University of Dar es Salaam, College of Information and Communication Technology, Head of Computer Science and Engineering Department, Dr. Honest Kimaro (2ndR) and Tanzania Data Lab (dLab) Director of Research and Innovation, Mr. Agapiti Manday (1stL).

Ms. Meredith C. Falion, PEPFAR Political and Private Sector Associate (Right), The University of Dar es Salaam, College of Information and Communication Technology, Head of Computer Science and Engineering Department, Dr. Honest Kimaro (2ndR),  Mr. Stephen Chacha, The Data Collaborative for Local Impact (DCLI) Country Program Coordinator (2ndL) and  the Tanzania Data Lab (dLab) Director of Research and Innovation, Mr. Agapiti Manday (1stL) in a group photo with PEPFAR Scholars during a ceremony to award them with full PEPFAR scholarships for the two-year Master of Science in Data Science at UDSM-CoICT.