Abstract

Statistics, as a discipline and a practice, enables and accelerates all aspects of data-driven research, business, and policy and therefore development. Since local challenges require local solutions, those best positioned to analyze data are local statisticians and data scientists who understand the local context of how the data was produced. We propose a new model for building statistics and data science capacity, one that helps statisticians and data scientists in developing countries to build their own capacity to engage in data-driven development by working at the intersection of data producers, data analyzers, and data decision makers to transform evidence into action. Based on the collective experiences of more than 35 stat labs in the LISA 2020 Network, we discuss nine lessons learned for building statistics and data science capacity for development. We provide two case studies for an in depth exploration of how statisticians can transform evidence into action.

Paper #1: Dr. Kim Love from KR Love Quantitative Consulting and Collaboration in the USA is the Global LISA 2020 Monitoring and Evaluation Director. She will discuss the model of how the statistics and data science collaboration laboratories of the LISA 2020 Network transform evidence into action for the benefit of society.

Paper #2: Dr. Pooja Sengupta from the University of Calcutta, India will discuss recent statistical work to predict solar and wind energy output in collaboration with the National Institute for Wind Energy in India. She will describe both some of the technical details of the work and, importantly, how this is leading to improved decision making for business, industry, and government.

Paper #3: Prof. Atinuke Adebanji from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana will discuss an innovative project to train mid-career women in statistical skills. She will describe the many impacts that these women have gone on to achieve in academia, industry, and government.

Prof. Eric Vance will provide his perspective as the Global Director of the LISA 2020 Network, centered at the Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Statistical Analysis (LISA) at the University of Colorado Boulder, USA.

Prof. Bhaswati Ganguli from the University of Calcutta, India will chair the session and provide her perspective of creating an industry-focused stat lab in India.