MIIA – Exciting Machine Intelligence calendar of Events in August, September, and October 2017!

August 6, 2017

jludik

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Dear MIIA community,

We are entering an eventful period on the MIIA calendar! Herewith some updated highlights with some more details below, including registration links (see also corresponding LinkedIn post):

  • We are excited to announce our next MIIA event that will be hosted by PwC in V&A Waterfront, Cape Town on the 16th of August 2017 at 6pm. The theme of the event is “Data Science Applications to help businesses thrive in the Smart Technology Era” and we have speakers from PwC, Dimago, Cortex Logic and UCT. 
  • The Machine Intelligence Institute of Africa (MIIA) has also recently partnered with the Africa Data Forum and will be participating in the upcoming All Things Data Conference at the Westin, Cape Town on 29-30 August 2017. See more details below.
  • MIIA has decided to join forces with the Africa Data Science Association and will also have Board representation in this non profit organization that aims to ensure alignment between the academia and corporates on data science curriculum. 
  • We are also excited to announce another MIIA event at Nedbank Stellenbosch University Launch Lab on Tuesday evening 5 September 2017 at 6:30pm. The theme for the event is “Machine Intelligence and its Applications” with some experts from Stellenbosch University, Industry and the MIIA community participating. The format of the event will be a few presentations with Q&A along with a panel discussion. We aim to showcase, amongst others, some of the excellent work being done at Stellenbosch University and Industry in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Data Science. See registration details of the event below.
  • We also have many of the MIIA community members also participating in the upcoming Deep Learning Indaba at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg from 10-15 September 2017. 
  • Our next MIIA event in Johannesburg (at the DIZ) is scheduled for Friday evening 15 September 2017 at 5:30pm. The theme for this event is “Deep Learning and its Applications“, which is very topical given that it’s scheduled during the Deep Learning Indaba week. As this is also just after the Deep Learning Indaba, all Deep Learning Indaba participants are also invited to this event where we’ll have some MIIA members and Deep Learning Indaba participants presenting on Deep Learning related topics. See registration details of the event below.
  • We have also scheduled our first Data Science Hackathon sponsored by IBM at the DIZ in Johannesburg on Saturday 16 September 2017 from 9am-8:30pm. As this hackathon follows the Deep Learning Indaba week, the theme for the hackathon is also Deep Learning and the event is called Deep Learning Hackathon. See registration details of the event below.
  • We are also working behind the scenes on a Data Science Hackathon in Cape Town. Anyone interested to participate or sponsor these events are welcome to email us at info@machineintelligenceafrica.org. Please also specify the location that is relevant for you.
  • Some of our MIIA members are presenting at the Executive Machine Learning (eXe-ML) 2017 Africa, 21-22 September 2017, Sandton.  Executive Machine Learning Africa 2017 is a conference and workshop that highlights developing trends in ML and AI and provides ideas and strategies for their practical implementation in business. It’s exactly what executives, who need to know more about AI and ML, have been waiting for. Please see more details about the event in following brochure. MIIA members can also get a 20% off by using the code miia_friends or follow the link https://www.eventbrite.com/e/executiveml-exeml-2017-tickets-34311720279?discount=miia_friends. eXe-ML is also giving several book-give aways https://www.executiveml.com/book-give-aways with current ML/AI titles.
  • The MIIA community is also invited to the SA Innovation Summit, which is scheduled from 6-8 September 2017 in Cape Town. The SA Innovation Summit as an annual flagship event on the South African Innovation Calendar, is a platform for nurturing, developing and showcasing African innovation, as well as facilitating innovation thought-leadership. See more details below.
  • Earlier this year MIIA has partnered with Data Science Nigeria and participated in their first Data Science Bootcamp (see Machine Intelligence Institute of Africa collaboration with Data Science Nigeria). In follow-up to this, Data Science Nigeria is having two major upcoming events during 12-15 October 2017, its 1st National Big Data Economy Summit & 2nd Data Science Bootcamp in Lagos, Nigeria. See below for more details about both events. MIIA has also provided an introductory video to the Data Science Nigeria’s 1st National Big Data Economy Summit & 2nd Data Science Bootcamp.
  • MIIA will also be represented at the inaugural AI Africa Conference on 26 and 27 October 2017 at Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, where Dr Jacques Ludik will be delivering a keynote address on ““Operationalization of AI and Big Data & Analytics to help businesses thrive in the Smart Technology Era“. The event is aimed at bringing together, under one roof, all stakeholders in AI on the African continent for the purposes of networking, enhancing knowledge and sharing new ideas and emerging trends. More details about this event will be made available soon.

MIIA Event on Wednesday, 16 August 2017 @ PwC, V & A Waterfront, Cape Town 

Data Science Applications to help businesses thrive in the Smart Technology Era

Sponsors: PwC, Machine Intelligence Institute of Africa, Cortex Logic

Venue: Top floor, Silo, 5 South Arm Rd, V & A Waterfront, Cape Town

Agenda:

  • 17h30: Guests start to arrive, with canapes and drinks, arrival outside the business school venue
  • 18h00: Presentations start
    • “Introduction and MIIA update”, Dr Jacques Ludik, MIIA, Cortex Logic, Bennit.AI – presentation
    • “Data Science applications at PwC”, Phillip Hattingh, PwC – presentation
    • “Data Science Academy”, Pierre Naude, Dimago – presentation
    • “Operationalizing AI, Data Science, and Big Data & Analytics to help businesses thrive in the Smart Technology Era”, Dr Jacques Ludik, MIIA, Cortex Logic, Bennit.AI – presentation
    • “AI-based approaches to building Chatbots and Virtual Assistants”, Chris Currin, PhD Computational Neuroscience candidate at UCT – presentation
  • 19h15: Presentations end. Guests move to rooftop bar for drinks and light snacks.
  • 20h00: Wrap up (the venue is booked to 21h00).

Video

Photos

To register on Quicket (entrance: free ticket):

Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/Machine-Intelligence-Institute-of-Africa/events/241939321/

MIIA Events page: http://machineintelligenceafrica.org/activities/events/

Parking: Below PwC building

MIIA Event on Tuesday, 5 September 2017 @ Nedbank Stellenbosch University LaunchLab at 6:30pm

Machine Intelligence and its Applications

Sponsors: LaunchLab, Machine Intelligence Institute of Africa, Cortex Logic, eXe-ML

Venue: Nedbank Stellenbosch University LaunchLab, Hammandshand Road, Stellenbosch

We are excited to announce another MIIA event at Nedbank Stellenbosch University LaunchLab, Stellenbosch on Tuesday evening 5 September 2017 at 6:30pm.

The theme for the event is Machine Intelligence and its Applications with some experts from Stellenbosch University, Industry and the MIIA community participating. The format of the event will be a few presentations with Q&A along with a panel discussion. We aim to showcase, amongst others, some of the excellent work being done at Stellenbosch University in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Data Science. 

Preliminary Agenda:
18:30-19:25: Presentations:

  • 18:30: “Welcome & Introduction”, Brandon Paschal, LaunchLab [5 minutes]
  • 18:35: “Machine Intelligence & its Applications introduction and MIIA update”, Dr Jacques Ludik, MIIA, Cortex Logic, Bennit.AI [10 minutes] – presentation
  • 18:45: “Learning speech models without labelled data”, Dr Herman Kamper, SU Electronic Engineering [20 minutes] – presentation
  • 19:05: “Minerals Processing and Machine Learning”, Dr John McCoy, Zander Horn, SU Process Engineering [20 minutes] – presentation

19:25-20:00: Panel Discussion: Machine Intelligence and its Applications [35 minutes]

Moderator: Dr Jacques Ludik – see Questions in presentation

Participants: Dr Herman Kamper, Dr John McCoy, Zander Horn, Shaun Irwin (Stone 3), others from IndustryVideo of the event

To register for this MIIA, get a free ticket via Quicket:

Parking: At Nedbank Stellenbosch University LaunchLab, Hammandshand Road, Stellenbosch University

Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/Machine-Intelligence-Institute-of-Africa/events/242324486/

MIIA Events page:  http://machineintelligenceafrica.org/activities/events/

MIIA Event on Friday, 15 September 2017 @ The DIZ, Johannesburg at 5:30pm

Deep Learning and its Applications

UPDATE: See http://machineintelligenceafrica.org/activities/hackathon/ 

Sponsors: IBM, Machine Intelligence Institute of Africa, Cortex Logic, eXe-ML, The DIZ

Venue: The DIZ, 3rd Floor, 111 Smit Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg (corner of Smit and Eendracht street). Parking on Juta and Eendracht street.

Agenda:

  • “Introduction and MIIA update“, Dr Jacques Ludik, MIIA, Cortex Logic, Bennit.AI – presentation
  • “Info session for Deep Learning Hackathon on 16 September“, Alex Conway, Founder & CTO, NumberBoost – see Computer Vision Challenge
  • “Convolutional Neural Networks for Computer Vision Applications“, Alex Conway, Founder & CTO, NumberBoost – presentation
  • “Conversational Systems: Beyond the Interface”, Chris Currin, PhD Computational Neuroscience candidate at UCT – presentation
  • “Deep Learning and its Applications”, Dr Jacques Ludik, MIIA, Cortex Logic, Bennit.AI – presentation
  • “Introduction to Bluemix“, IBM 

To register on Quicket: 

http://qkt.io/UVUo5S or 

https://www.quicket.co.za/events/33017-miia-deep-learning-and-its-applications/

Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/Machine-Intelligence-Institute-of-Africa-Jhb-Pta/events/242325146/

MIIA Events page:  http://machineintelligenceafrica.org/activities/events/

Deep Learning Hackathon on Saturday, 16 September 2017 @ The DIZ, Johannesburg from 9am-8:30pm

UPDATE: See http://machineintelligenceafrica.org/activities/hackathon/ 

Sponsors: IBM, Machine Intelligence Institute of Africa, Cortex Logic, The DIZ

Venue: The DIZ, 3rd Floor, 111 Smit Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg (corner of Smit and Eendracht street). Parking on Juta and Eendracht street.

Agenda:

Challenge: Computer Vision problem – having a closer look at data related to a major problem affecting transport in South Africa and costing the country in the order hundreds of millions of Rands…

Announcement of Challenge: The computer vision challenge will be revealed at MIIA Event on the 15th of September at the same venue as the hackathon (Quicket: http://qkt.io/UVUo5S; Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/Machine-Intelligence-Institute-of-Africa-Jhb-Pta/events/242325146/). We’ll also post this on the MIIA website (Events page:http://machineintelligenceafrica.org/activities/events/) 

9am-5pm: Working on Challenge

  • 9-9:10am: Kick-off and formation of teams (can also be individual participants)
  • 1pm: Lunch
  • 5pm: Participants must submit predictions on test set

5-6pm: Working on Presentations

  • Drinks, snacks + working on presentations

7-7:15pm: MIIA, Introductions to Panel of Judges and Sponsors

  • 7-7:05pm: MIIA
  • 7:05-7:10pm: Introduction to panel of judges
  • 7:10-7:15pm:  IBM as main sponsor

7:15-8:15pm: Team/participant presentations

  • We aim for maximum of 2 minutes per team/participant presentation

8:15-8:30pm: Presentation of Prizes:

  • Judges present prizes:
    • for most accurate models
    • for best presentation (fun prize)

To register on Quicket: 

Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/Machine-Intelligence-Institute-of-Africa-Jhb-Pta/events/242325280/

MIIA Events page:  http://machineintelligenceafrica.org/activities/events/

Africa Data Forum, All Things Data, Cape Town, Hosted by the City of Cape Town, 29-30 August 2017

Venue: Westin Hotels & Resorts, Cape Town

https://www.africadataforum.com/capetown-conference/

Agenda:

https://www.africadataforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/AGENDA_29-30_Capetown_updated.pdf

SA Innovation Summit, 6-8 September 2017, Cape Town

Website: http://innovationsummit.co.za/

Ticket Sales: http://innovationsummit.co.za/ticket-sales/

The SA Innovation Summit as an annual flagship event on the South African Innovation Calendar, is a platform for nurturing, developing and showcasing African innovation, as well as facilitating innovation thought-leadership. Created to support and promote innovation and facilitate collaboration within its own eco-system, the initiative brings together corporates, thought leaders, inventors, entrepreneurs, academia and policy makers to amplify South Africa’s renowned competitive edge and to inspire sustained economic growth across the continent of Africa. The outcomes achieved by the Summit, is a powerful platform to bring together thought leaders and accelerate innovation in South Africa, and into the African continent as whole.

Executive Machine Learning 2017 Africa,  21-22 September 2017, Sandton

Executive Machine Learning (eXe-ML) 2017 Africa, 21-22 September 2017, Sandton

Some our MIIA members are presenting at the Executive Machine Learning (eXe-ML) 2017 Africa, 21-22 September 2017, Sandton.  Executive Machine Learning Africa 2017 is a conference and workshop that highlights developing trends in ML and AI and provides ideas and strategies for their practical implementation in business. It’s exactly what executives, who need to know more about AI and ML, have been waiting for. Please see more details about the event in following brochure. MIIA members can also get a 20% off by using the code miia_friends or follow the link https://www.eventbrite.com/e/executiveml-exeml-2017-tickets-34311720279?discount=miia_friends. eXe-ML is also giving several book-give aways https://www.executiveml.com/book-give-aways with current ML/AI titles.

A world-class speaker line-up

eXe-ML have secured a fantastic line-up of local and international speakers from organisations including: ● Google ● IBM ● Georgia Tech Business School ● Turner/TimeWarner ● SAS Institute ● Symantec ● University Of Cape Town ● And more (Click here for the conference agenda)

Limited seats available.

Seats are filling up and there are only limited seats still available. Join other executives from corporate companies across South Africa who will be attending the conference to find out how ML and AI can make a strategic difference in their organisations. To register simply follow the link on the exe-ML website.

Data Science Nigeria: 1st National Big Data Economy Summit & 2nd Data Science Bootcamp 12-15 October 2017, Lagos, Nigeria

The 1st National Summit on Big Data Economy will bring together industry leaders, business executives, academia and cross-industry data science practitioners to discuss a Nigerian-centric Big Data agenda, especially as it relates to the practical application of data science in driving socio-economic development in emerging markets. Sessions will include practical showcase of data science application in the economy, consumer behaviour, health, business, city planning, security, agriculture, manufacturing and logistics. Dr Yemi Kale, the Statistician General of the Federation will be the keynote speaker as the No 1 data champion in the country. 

The 2nd Data Science bootcamp will run side-by-side between Thursday, 12 October and Sunday, 15 October 2017. The bootcamp will include face-to-face teaching, virtual online classes, and a hands-on hackathon using the Kaggle platform on latest tools in Machine learning and advanced Statistics for Data science. The sessions will be facilitated by leading Nigerian data scientists and many international PhD-level data scientists, including both industry professionals and academics.

We do believe that these two events collaboration will reinforce the increasing importance of data in our national development and further position Data Science Nigeria as a transformational lighthouse and an enabler of the emerging knowledge-based economy.

MIIA has also provided an introductory video to the Data Science Nigeria’s 1st National Big Data Economy Summit & 2nd Data Science Bootcamp.

Data Science Nigeria Bootcamp Sponsorship

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