From 20–24 July 2026, Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, hosted Data Science Africa 2026, welcoming students, researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and industry leaders from across Africa and beyond for five days of learning, collaboration, and research showcase.
Held under the theme "Foundational and Practical Data Science in the Age of Generative AI," DSA 2026 underscored the growing importance of equipping Africa's AI community with both strong technical foundations and practical skills to develop responsible, impactful AI systems.
The event combined a three-day Summer School with a two-day Workshop, creating opportunities for participants to engage with leading experts, explore emerging technologies, and present research addressing challenges unique to African contexts.
The Summer School delivered an intensive programme covering the core concepts and emerging trends shaping artificial intelligence today. Participants attended lectures, practical sessions, demonstrations, and discussions spanning topics including:
Generative AI and Large Language Models
MLOps and AI deployment
AI Evaluation
Explainable AI
Agentic AI and Multi-Agent Systems
Responsible AI and AI Governance
High Performance Computing
Edge AI and resource-constrained computing
AI applications in healthcare, agriculture, environmental monitoring, and African language technologies
The DSA Workshop provided a platform for researchers from across the continent to present peer-reviewed work advancing data science and artificial intelligence.
Research presentations covered a broad range of areas including machine learning, computer vision, natural language processing, healthcare, agriculture, climate science, and trustworthy AI, highlighting innovative work grounded in African realities.
The workshop also featured invited talks from academia and industry, offering perspectives on deploying AI in resource-constrained environments, building African language technologies, and addressing data scarcity and uncertainty in AI development.
One of DSA's defining strengths continues to be its ability to bring together diverse communities.
The event also showcased practical innovations from organizations including AirQo, Sunbird AI, Makerere Centre for Artificial Intelligence, Busitema AI Lab, DSAIL, and other research groups applying AI to solve real-world challenges.
Thank You to Our Partners
DSA 2026 Kampala would not have been possible without the generous support of our partners and sponsors.
We extend our sincere appreciation to Arm, Google DeepMind, Google, Edge Impulse, AI Skills and Compute Africa, our local organizing committee at Makerere University, and the many institutions, volunteers, speakers, reviewers, and participants whose dedication made this year's event a success.
Your continued support strengthens Data Science Africa's mission of building research excellence and AI capacity across the continent.
Thank you to everyone who joined us in Kampala.
We look forward to welcoming you to the next edition of Data Science Africa as we continue advancing data science and artificial intelligence for Africa, by Africa.
