I was first introduced to the Deep Learning Indaba in 2018. At the start of this year, I had quite literally packed my bags and left a career in Physiotherapy to start from scratch in Cape Town, South Africa. Prior to this, I’d been working as a clinical physiotherapist at the Tembisa Provincial Tertiary Hospital […]

This has been an interesting year, with the rest of the world starting to wake up to the power and potential of AI. Fortunately, the African AI community has been waking up for the last few years, in time to make sure that Africa has a seat at this very important table. The 2023 Deep […]

Before the rest of this intro I want us all to thank all the organisers, volunteers and participants of the 2023 Deep Learning Indaba in Ghana. You made it the experience that it was.  Now, on to some thoughts post the Indaba to inspire the next year. It is time to stretch and test our […]

The Indaba community inspired me and reopened my eyes, seeing people to look up to from all over Africa succeeding in industry and academia made me realise that all hardships can be harnessed, that I can myself be part of the African and Global AI advancement. Anonymous Travelling to Accra, meeting like-minded people, engaging in […]

I arrive at the venue a few hours early to check the setup and prepare for registration. It’s almost eerily quiet, just the occasional light hum of activity around as volunteers, suppliers and sponsors make last minute adjustments. The calm before the storm. All those months of late nights preparing, the moment has finally come! […]

As a Ghanaian machine learning practitioner in the United States, I’m constantly searching for ways to contribute to capacity building efforts in Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Africa. When I stumbled upon the Deep Learning Indaba in 2018, I couldn’t help but join forces with this great organisation to promote their noble […]

A community, by my layman definition, is a group of individuals with a shared mission, goal or purpose. There should ideally be leadership, with distinct roles, policies and platforms that govern the interaction of the community. Communities can be large, vibrant ecosystems. They may not be as organised as we think, maybe things just work […]

وما نيل المطالب بالتمني  *** و لكن تؤخذ الدنيا غلابا وما استعصى على قوم منال  *** إذا الإقدام كان لهم ركابا The desired goals are not attained through mere wishes  But rather the world is conquered through endeavour No achievement is beyond the reach of those Who take on the road with determination أحمد شوقي […]

It is now at least seven years since the first seeds for the Deep Learning Indaba were planted. I have often wondered what the causal factors are behind the phenomenal growth and impact of the Deep Learning Indaba community. There are communities and teaching events in two thirds of the countries in Africa now. Our […]

We have an Indaba (gathering) ‘refresh meeting’ every year to reconnect and refocus as a group. This is the Indaba’s Indaba, and I get the chance to put forward a new vision for us as a working group each year. For 2023, we used Kwame Nkruma’s famous line from his 1960 speech, We face neither […]

In 2023, we launched the Deep Learning Indaba’s newsletter Sauti Yetu | Our Voice. Each newsletter features progress updates from the organising committee, some recommendations for reading material and important dates for your diary. Notably, each newsletter also features a letter to the community, written by members of the community. These letters always carry a […]

Kambule Doctoral Award The Kambule Doctoral Award, held in honour of one of South Africa’s greatest mathematician and teacher, Dr Thamsanqu W. Kambule, recognises  excellence in research and writing by doctoral candidates at African universities, in any area of computational and statistical sciences, and whose work demonstrates excellence through technical rigour, significance of contribution, and […]

The Deep Learning Indaba is approaching very fast, and we are very excited to launch our second edition of the Ideathon! Each year brings new experiences to the Indaba. One of last year’s adventures was a new competition aiming at fostering innovation and building bridges across the continent. The Ideathon took shape to provide a […]

Deep Learning Indaba 2023 What are the Kambule and Alele-Williams Awards? The Thamsanqa Kambule and Grace Alele-Williams Awards recognise and encourage excellence in research and writing by doctoral and master’s candidates, respectively, at African universities, in any area of computational and statistical sciences.  The Kambule Doctoral Award celebrates African research excellence: its recipients uphold Thamsanqa […]

Deep Learning Indaba 2023 What is the Maathai Impact Award? The Wangari Maathai Impact Award encourages and recognises work by African innovators that shows impactful application (including but not limited to technical, societal,  environmental, and economic) of machine learning and artificial intelligence. This award reinforces the legacy of Wangari Maathai in acknowledging the capacity of […]