Project title: UNESCO Chair on Data Science for Sustainable Development.
Chair Holder Coordinator: Dr. Majdi Owda.
Domain(s) and discipline(s) concerned: Data Science, Artificial Intelligence and Enterprise Eco-Systems for Sustainable Development - Palestine.
Executing institution and Project Leader Name and Full Address:
Dr. Majdi Owda, Majdi.Owda
aaup.edu.
Faculty of Data Science.
Arab American University, https://www.aaup.edu , +97022941999 ext. 1930 .
Partners:
1. Professor Ana Vilas, University of Vigo, Spain.
2. Professor Keeley Crockett, Manchester Metropolitan University, United Kingdom.
3. Professor Mohammad Hijawi, Applied Science Private University, Jordan.
4. Dr. Fathi Gasir, The Libyan Academy for Postgraduate Studies, Libya.
5. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), State of Palestine.
6. The Ministry of Higher Education, Palestine.
Summary of the project
The project constitutes an integrated proposal for the establishment of a UNESCO Chair on data science for sustainable development primarily for developing countries taking the state of Palestine as a case study. The Chair is to promote a holistic integrated system of research, training in the field of data science for sustainable development. The research component of the project will centre on working in national and international projects to make a visible network cross higher education institutions in the area of data science techniques and methods to be available for researchers and practitioners to utilise in developing countries, since developing countries need to get the data expertise to create a knowledge workforce and become self-reliant and have a sustainable growth.
A holistic model for integrating data science in various sectors of the society will have the follow key scopes, but not limited to:
- Data Science for Schools.
- Data Science for Business Analytics.
- Data Science for Contemporary Performance Measurement and Management (PMM) in Digital Economies.
- Data Science for Public Health.
- Data Science for Public Policy.
- Data Science for Big Social Data Analytics and Credibility Assessment.
Projects corresponding to UNESCO’s priorities
The proposed UNESCO Chair on Data Science for Sustainable Development focuses primarily on utilising Data Science for Sustainable development in developing countries as a holistic approach. It is purely multidisciplinary in its nature and is related directly and indirectly to several UNESCO priorities in engineering and technology resources, the environment, health, regional sustainable development reviews, public awareness and access to information; since Data Science is becoming an integrated part of every enterprise data eco-system. In addition, the chair will have activities and projects that function to satisfy the priorities for data collection and analysis as declared by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS).
Contribution to national and regional development:
(1) National development
Through alignment with National Policy Agenda, especially in the Data Science sector, the proposed Chair will offer a number of benefits to the State of Palestine including:
A - Promote the usage of data science as important area to promote sustainable growth and development.
B – Enhance the sector’s capacity in data science areas related to planning and development.
C- Contribute to enhancing the capacity of data science related institutions and improving their roles and regulations.
D- Provide core skills necessary to build a data-enabled culture within different sectors and communities and support data-related projects and research initiatives.
(2) Regional and International development
The proposed Chair seeks to create an international and multidisciplinary platform allowing data scientists from academia and industry to sustain a dialogue that allows the integration of findings from different fields into a more cohesive understanding of developing counties needs and issues in relation to the application of data science. The Arab American University’s faculty and department staff, various partners, and interested researchers from other Palestinian universities and Arab, Middle Eastern countries and international partners, will be engaged to participate in the interdisciplinary program of the proposed UNESCO Chair. By doing so, the Chair will bring together a diverse range of data science expertise in order to explore making data science tools and techniques available for developing countries and tailored for their needs.
Specific objectives - (short-term):
- To enhance the coordination among the academic institutions and between the academic institutions and industry.
- To develop common research projects and strengthen links with partners to foster advanced research, facilitate the exchange of scientists, and increase the availability of outstanding specialists in applied data science.
- To train students and technicians at the university with modern research and management principles in the fields of data science for sustainable development primarily in developing countries.
- To exchange and disseminate scientific knowledge and information between institutions about applied data science tools and techniques.
Development Objectives (long-term):
- To promote an integrated interdisciplinary system of research, information and development activities in the fields of data science at national and international level.
- To contribute to community development and capacity building in data science subjects through education and high-level training.
- To enhance opportunities to develop educational networks and information exchange in understanding data science related issues and their impact on other disciplines.
- To contribute to the development of data science services in Palestine and regional and international scopes as well.
To promote the use of data science for sustainable development, in decision making, in business analytics for economic growth, in public health, in policy making, and others.
