The event took place from 10–14 June 2019, at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria
The 4th TYAN International Thematic Workshop and 1st African Symposium, themed “Big Data, Analytics and Machine Intelligence for Financial, Health and Environmental Inclusion in Developing Countries”, was held with funding from Elsevier Foundation, harnessed through TWAS, in partnership with the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Nigeria Computer Society, Ondo State Chapter, and the Nigerian Young Academy (NYA). The symposium and the workshop aimed at providing a platform to increase knowledge in big data, analytics, and machine intelligence, exploring how these techniques could be used to provide solutions and build multidisciplinary and international collaborations.
The symposium was held on 10-11 June, while the International Thematic Workshop was held from 12 to 14 June, at the Heritage Continental Resort Hotel, Ijapo Estate, Akure, Nigeria. Seventy-two speakers and participants (64% male, 36% female) representing 14 countries (including 3 Science-and Technology Lagging Countries, or STLCs) attended both the workshop and symposium. These countries are Benin, Cameroon, China, Egypt, the Republic of Ghana, Italy, Nigeria, Morocco, the United Kingdom, Scotland, Türkiye, Tunisia, South Africa, and the United States. The symposium consisted of 2 keynote presentations, 5 plenary sessions, 30 oral presentations, 16 poster presentations, 1 panel discussion session, and 1 special session to discuss the scientific challenges around the application of big data, analytics, and machine intelligence in Africa. Similarly, the thematic workshop included 10 course lectures, 2 hands-on sessions, and 5 workshops.