KCA University, formerly Kenya College of Accountancy founded in 1989 today became the first university in the country to launch a Data Analytics, Visualization & Digital Security Research Lab in partnership Ministry of Information and Communications.
The Data Analytics and Visualization research lab (D-Hub) will to promote the understanding of data visualisation and analytics methods for problem solving and decision-making and make data relevant to businesses and entire public according to the university.
Speaking during the launch Prof Ddembe Williams, KCA dean faculty of Computing and Information Management said the analytics lab will improve people’s understanding of the world by use of data forecast. It will also help learners take up data from the government’s open data portal and make it available and usable to the public.
Due to inadequate qualified data analytics personnel in the country, KCA University says it has introduced new courses to fill that gap such MSc in Advanced Databases and Visual analytics and the MSc in Information Systems Management.
The data lab and the analytics courses will give learners techniques to make use of large and complex data via interactive visualisation to synthesise information to forecast expected and unexpected trends. The data will be helpful in climate study and meteorology, business intelligence, epidemics, public policy analysis and development, security among others.