Let’s train our data scientists locally
What you need to know:
Kenya needs native data scientists who understand local data sets using locally programmed data tools.
Foreign experts have little knowledge on the socio-political and economic issues happening locally.
The time to give our local technology talent a chance to be part of the next generation of innovative leaders is now.
After attending several tech meetings, where the lack of data science skills in the country has been discussed, and observing global tech trends, I strongly believe the economy of the future will be driven by data.
Data has replaced gold as the most precious commodity in the world, but sadly, we have an acute shortage of tech hubs or schools in Kenya offering a data science course, despite our early adoption of emerging technologies.
DATA ANALYSES
With the demand for data science comprehension soaring in the market, one data analytics education provider — Moringa School — in the largest economy in East Africa is far from sufficient.
The national government, county governments and the private sector all need the services of data scientists to achieve proper service delivery.
The corporate world needs them to save time and reduce costs besides bridging quality gaps. Major global innovation breakthroughs are spurred by results from data analysis.
It has been a core skill to the private sector in the in-depth and accurate analysis of marketing strategies, customer experience, product development and identification of new market gaps.
Even English Premier League club Liverpool proved how data science can have positive change when it used it to sign quality players that saw it taste European glory after 14 seasons.
Data and statistics employers are fed up with struggling to find properly trained data scientists locally, forcing them to seek the services of expensive foreigners. Some companies spend up to Sh600,000 to hire one foreign data analyst.
This calls for a public-private partnership to grow the right data culture in Kenya and match the massive demand already existing. Good data analysis will always bear the fruits of product and service improvement.
FOREIGN EXPERTS
The ability to discern which problems are crucial to solve for a ministry, company or county government is critical, as well as identifying better ways of leveraging that data. Kenya is arguably the epicentre of technology in Africa, and this is a wake-up call for us to invest in data science training that will help build the next sustainable technology ecosystem.
We no longer need foreigners to analyse data from our own economy. Kenya needs native data scientists who understand local data sets using locally programmed data tools.
Foreign experts have little knowledge on the socio-political and economic issues happening locally. The time to give our local technology talent a chance to be part of the next generation of innovative leaders is now.
Kenya must create an efficient national platform for local data science training, embedded in the curriculum, and cease importing Big Data analysts from abroad, for its efforts to compete on the global commercial arena to come to fruition.
The writer is the online editor at Taifa Leo; [email protected]; @faustination
