The DataLab Research Group brings together faculty, postgraduate and undergraduate students who carry out research on data analysis and data management, and who apply artificial intelligence to problems that matter in Zambia and the wider region. The group is currently hosted by the Department of Computing and Informatics at the University of Zambia, and is led by Dr Lighton Phiri.
What we work on
Our research is organised around three areas:
- Data Mining: using statistical and machine learning techniques to support the efficient and effective delivery of services, particularly in health and education;
- Digital Libraries: techniques and infrastructure for the long-term storage of, and access to, digital collections, including repositories, open access journals and electronic theses and dissertations; and
- Technology-Enhanced Learning: how educational technologies can be designed and deployed effectively, including learning analytics.
This work is carried out through projects such as Enterprise Medical Imaging in Zambia, the Zambia National ETD Portal, Zambian Sign Language Translation, Road Safety in Zambia and Diamond Open Access Journals, and has produced more than 90 publications, including journal articles, conference papers, theses and student capstone reports.
What we do
- Research, carried out by staff together with undergraduate and postgraduate students;
- Training: we regularly run capacity-building workshops on applied AI, open access publishing, open educational resources and digital tools for higher education institutions, professional bodies and partners (see our news);
- Community engagement, including open infrastructure such as the Zambia National ETD Portal; and
- Consultancy and technical services.
Our people
The group is made up of faculty supervisors, postgraduate students (PhD, MSc and postgraduate diploma) and undergraduate students working on their final-year capstone projects. Many of our members have gone on to graduate and to careers in industry, government and academia. Meet them on our people page, and read their write-ups on the blog.
Join us
We welcome enquiries from prospective students and collaborators. Postgraduate supervision is available in Computer Science, Information Systems, Information Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Health Informatics and Data Science. If you are interested in working with us, please get in touch with a short description of your interests.