Big Data Analytics Capacity Development with Radio Astronomy

To allow for African participation in the technological advances of the fourth industrial revolution and data-intensive research, there is an urgent need for data science skills capacity development on the continent. The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Telescope in Africa will require new and innovative big data solutions and relevant technical skills, which has resulted in a drive for building capacity in this area. We present data science skills development models based on Big Data research schools and hackathons that have been run in different contexts across Africa. We describe the potential impact of these events and how this is relevant to Africa’s development priorities. We present the African cloud computing facility on which events are run and findings from participant feedback. We find the events implemented by the project to be both effective and versatile, as well as adaptable to many environments, including fully virtual.