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DSN targets raising one million AI developers in 10 years

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Data Science Nigeria (DSN) has set an ambitious target of raising at least one million Nigerians to become Artificial Intelligence developers in the country.

The none profit organization is already leading this revolution to upskill, re-skill and retool young Nigerians in Artificial Intelligence (AI) skills to enable them become more productive to the country and the world at large.

DSN conveyed an AI Summit in Lagos where it reiterated the vision to raise one million (1,000,000) high-qualified, world-class AI talents in the next 10 years.

The Body believes that building a local data science/big data/AI ecosystem will position Nigeria to become the outsourcing hub for international Data Science/Advanced Analytics/Big Data projects with opportunity to access 10% share of the global data science outsourcing projects, worth USD 3.3 billion in revenue by 2020.

In a keynote presentation titled, ‘Artificial Intelligence for Development’, Distinguished Professor (Emeritus) and Director of Intelligent Systems Research at Oregon State University, Prof. Thomas Dietterich, described AI as catalyst for economic advancement.

He said that AI presents opportunities for economic transformation in unique.

According to him, although the developing economies still lag behind in some areas with regards AI adoption and applications, however, organisations like Data Science Nigeria, have shown clear roadmap capable of putting the country on the right footings and build the national competitiveness given the right skills set.

He emphasised that developing AI enabled weather management solutions, for instance, will assist the continent address some challenges faced by farmers thereby leading to improved food production/sufficiency.

Prof.  Dietterich, said that with the growing community of AI enthusiasts and learners, Nigeria and indeed Africa will witness a major boost in skills needed for research and development focused on bringing applied Artificial Intelligence solutions to existing community problems.

He however, emphasised that to make progress in this direction requires making sense out of the big data and applying the results to track diseases, and make the nation safer, better, and well-structured for collective well-being

Prof. Dietterich, who is one of the founders of the field of Machine learning, applauded Data Science Nigeria for taking the lead to connect experts with AI developers/enthusiasts to develop solutions that can transform the society.

While applauding the First AI Book for Primary and Junior Secondary School students in Nigeria, the keynote speaker further urged experts and stakeholders to rave-up DSN’s mission to deliver positive impact to the society using Artificial Intelligence.

On his part, the Convener, Data Science Nigeria, Dr. Olubayo Adekanmbi, said that he desires that by 2025 every Nigerian child under-10-year old understands the concept of AI, it’s applications and builds the right skills set so that Nigeria becomes the talent pool for the rest of the world.

The Convener, DSN, said that as a nation of 200 million people, with median age at 18 years, it is important to prepare the young people for the future by exposing them to the right skill set; “especially when we know that most of the jobs we know today will go into extinction in the next 5-10 years.

 “So, the question is: what becomes of our country with so much young people who are lacking in the right skills for the ‘future jobs’. That informed the whole idea of Data Science Nigeria Artificial Intelligence Skill Building. It has become a mandate. We have taken up the responsibility to say: it is not going to be the son of a rich-man or an average man; wherever they are in this country, have access to the same knowledge that students in San Francisco, Paris and London have access to., by creating a book that will be distributed free. We are not going through the traditional model ‘I buy for my child’ rather ‘you buy for a community or the whole school’. The approach is: make knowledge in a simplified manner.

The second thing is to build a system that will allow that knowledge to be passed. That is why we are working various State Governments. We are going to run a lot of ‘train-the-trainer- program where we will equip the teachers to also know, because you can only give what you have. We are going to train the teachers in AI. Afterwards, we are going to give them a few copies of the Book. It is going to be on batches till we reach every part of the country.

Dr. Adekanmbi also pointed out how government can be part of the process to raise one million inspired young people to change the country’s narrative and make Nigeria the AI destination in future, he called for integrating AI as part of the national curriculum.

This, he said, would generate more attention by the students towards learning the discipline. “In addition to that, government can also support the effective production of this book which we are giving out free. DSN is a non-profit, everything we are trying to do is to democratise AI; from Lagos to Maiduguri to Uyo, to Sokoto, let every Nigerian child be exposed to the possibilities of AI. Let them build the right skills and let’s get our nation ready for the opportunities that AI presents; shaping opportunity creation, innovation, invention research, and transformational possibilities.

The Summit also exposed participants to DSN’s practitioner-led model where experienced and hands-on data scientists in Nigeria and in the Diaspora train and mentor young Nigerians through face-to-face, virtual coaching classes, project-based support and holiday boot camps funded by individuals and corporate organizations such as Softcom, Terragon Group, Microsoft, MainOne, TechCabal, BlueChip Technologies, amongst others. 

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The Economics of Product Decisions: Applying Behavioural Economics and Game Theory in PM

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Amarachi Nnochiri
Amarachi Nnochiri

Product managers often need to make a clear-cut decision: what should we build next? But the decisions which hold real importance go beyond adding features.

It’s about getting what makes people tick.

It goes way beyond what you would expect, getting into how people behave and using game theory.

These areas give insight into how users decide and how a product’s design can improve growth and keep people interested.

This is what Amarachi Nnochiri excels at. She is a senior product manager that knows how to use economics and psychology in her job.

She goes beyond simply managing product tasks; she develops whole product systems based on how users think, feel, and use a service. Her background shows how understanding human psychology and behaviour can give you a significant advantage in the competition.

One idea Amarachi uses is  “loss aversion.” In this scenario, people feel worse about losing something than they feel good about gaining something of equal value.

She uses this when designing her products, mostly when it comes to pricing and getting people to try new strategies. For example, instead of giving a free trial, she might use a freemium setup where users get some stuff for free but could lose it if they don’t buy an upgrade. This pushes them to pay.

She might also use progress bars or streak counters, since losing progress gets people to keep using the product.

Amarachi also uses ideas from “game theory” to get how users act and change their behavior. She realizes that users are doing more than operating a product, but are playing a game with other users or with the product itself. She designs things that use ideas like “Nash equilibrium,” where nobody can do better by changing what they’re doing. For a social product, this could mean creating a system where doing something good for yourself (like inviting friends) also helps everyone else. This makes the whole thing stable and positive.

Her know-how in game theory also applies to making strong “network effects.” This means making stuff that gets better as more people use it.

A good example is a social network where each new user makes the product more helpful for everyone else. Amarachi endeavours to make things go viral on purpose, not just by luck.

She might use “commitment devices,” which are things that make a user stick with a behaviour by making them depend on it socially or functionally. For example, inviting team members to a tool makes the user stick with the platform and makes the product’s network stronger.

This way of thinking is better than just following the usual steps. By using these economic and psychological tricks, Amarachi develops competitive advantages which are difficult to replicate.

She knows that a company’s best thing is not just a simple interface, but a product that’s designed to sync with how people behave.

Her product choices aren’t just about the needs of users, but equally focus on motivating them to like the product, use it, and stick with it.

In her work, choosing a subscription price isn’t just a business thing; it’s about behaviour. Designing a social feed isn’t just about the content; it’s about balancing what people want and watching how they interact. Amarachi knows extensively about the economics of product decisions. This makes her products innovative and appealing to human behaviour, which leads to more use, keeps people around, and helps the product grow. She’s a leader in product management, where identifying customer desires is backed by understanding human motivation.

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Glo reduces international call rates 

By Sandra Ani

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Glo and Globacom


Technology Company, Globacom, has announced significant reductions in its International Direct Dialing (IDD) rates, making international calls more affordable for its existing and new customers across Nigeria.

Effective August 10, the new rates began applying to over 15 popular international destinations, including United States which will has moved to ₦30 per minute, down from ₦35, United Kingdom is now N350 from ₦400, while India also moved down to ₦40 from N45.

The rates for China, Saudi Arabia and Cameroon however recorded major reduction moving to N75, N300 and ₦700 respectively.


The reduction was also extended to African countries including Benin Republic which goes for ₦650 per minute, Niger Republic ₦750, Ghana ₦500, and Togo ₦650. United Arab Emirates also moved from ₦450 to ₦325, Germany to ₦550, Côte d’Ivoire ₦700, Libya ₦700, while calls to Malawi is now N1,100 from ₦1,200.

Glo aims to provide more value for its customers through these revised rates, encouraging them to make Glo their preferred network for international calls. New IDD bundles will also be introduced, offering frequent international callers even more attractive deals.

Globacom, which remained optimistic that frequent international callers will benefit immensely from the reductions in IDD bundles, enjoined customers to take advantage of the new rates to stay connected with friends and business associates across the globe.

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Oil subsidy removal freed up resources for infrastructure – Enugu Governor 

By Orji Israel, South East Correspondent

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Oil benchmark

The Executive Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, has attributed the financing of numerous infrastructure projects embarked by the state government to the oil subsidy removal policy of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration.

He made this declaration at the Govermment House, Enugu, during a courtesy visit by a delegation of federal government led by Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, as part of activities lined up for the 2-day Citizens’ Engagement Series in the South East geo-political zone.

“For us in Enugu, we are able to accomplish all we promised our people during the campaign, thanks to the bold decision taken by President Bola Tinubu, which has freed up resources needed to execute humongous capital projects,” said Governor, while listing ongoing projects in the state, which include the construction of 7,000 classrooms, 3,300 hospital beds and 2,000-hectare of 260 farm estates across the 260 wards of the state.

Governor Mbah also pledged more support for the policies of the federal government, saying they are in the best interest of the people of the state.

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