In a joint effort between the American University of Beirut and Stanford Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering at Stanford University, the “Women in Data Science” conference is organized to enable and empower women in the field of data science.

The conference aims to promote higher representation of women in the data science field, present the latest women-led data research from the Middle East region, encourage interdisciplinary collaboration across the field, and build a community of regional researchers, academics, and professionals pioneering the global data science field (knowing that is yet to be fully explored in the MENA).

Women in the region have strong quantitative and analytical skills needed to excel in the field, yet they still lack proper guidance and mentorship, which is where AUB comes in, given its legacy as a regional research hub and a leader in higher education.

The WiDS conference is to be held on February 3, 2017, at Olayan School of Business (AUB campus) where it will bring together a number of experts and researchers from the region who will lead a number of panels and discussions revolving around a number of topics including “Data Science in IoT”, “Machine Learning” and “The Rise of Data Capital”.

Among the many speakers who will be attending is Dr. Rouwaida Kanj who will be leading a discussion on  'importance sampling and rare events for reliable chip design', as well as co-founder of Lebanese cyber-security startup 'Myki' Prescilla Elora Sharuk who will be tackling the topic of breaking gender-specific roles in the tech industry. 

In parallel to the conference, Wamda will be powering its own set of roundtable discussions on the following 3 topics - seats will be limited so make sure to register early:

• Applications of data science in retail, aviation, banking, and education in the MENA (an hour-long session starting 11:10 AM).

• Data Privacy: A right or a privilege? (an hour-long session starting 2:00 PM)

• Data science in IoT: What is different, what is not (an hour-long session starting 4:30 PM).

This one-day technical conference provides an opportunity to hear about the latest data science research in different fields, learn how leading companies are leveraging data science for success, and connect with potential mentors, collaborators, and others in the field.

This conference will be the first in a series of annual AUB-led events, taking place at the American University of Beirut this year, Dubai next year, and different parts of the MENA region in the future.

Register here and stay tuned. You can also watch the live stream on the day of the event here #AUBWiDS2017