Youth advised to turn data skills into social impact

THE Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Telecel Ghana, Patricia Obo-Nai, has called on the nation’s expanding community of young data scientists to transform their technical knowledge into tangible solutions to tackle some of Ghana’s most pressing challenges.

“There’s a saying that data is the new oil or the new gold. But if we’re honest, that description doesn’t even go far enough. Unlike oil and gold, data is not finite. Its power lies not in its volume, but in how we use it for the greater good,” she said.

Mrs Obo-Nai, who made the call at the Ghana Data Science Summit at Ashesi University on the theme: “From Skills to Impact: Empowering Ghana’s Data Science Evolution”, traced the global trajectory of data science from simple statistics to a powerful engine for prediction, automation, and social change.

 
Summit

The Ghana Data Science Summit, also known as IndabaX Ghana, is an annual event focused on data science, machine learning and Artificial Intelligence.

Launched in 2019 by the Data Science Network in partnership with Deep Learning Indaba, the summit aims to democratise data science knowledge across academia, industry, government, and the broader Ghanaian community.

It brought together students and seasoned professionals in data science to learn, share solutions and collaborate.

She acknowledged that beneath the momentum of the data science revolution, there were significant gaps, including the scarcity of hands-on experience opportunities, financial barriers to accessing advanced computing resources, limited industry adoption and a lingering bias against non-traditional learning pathways.

“Access to the Internet alone to learn data science is not enough. Without opportunities to apply your skills, build portfolios, and gain real-world exposure, technical knowledge risks becoming an unused asset,” she stated.

Mrs Obo-Nai also shared insights into how Telecel Ghana rely on data science in its operations to serve customers, including revenue forecasting, detecting fraud and creating personalised and tailored bundles such as the Made4Me offers.

“For us, data science is a strategic asset that drives our decision-making and customer engagement. We leverage machine learning to deepen customer understanding and retention,” she added.

She said the telco’s Data for Good initiative, implemented in collaboration with the Ghana Statistical Service and Flowminder, played a critical role in the national response during health crises by providing anonymised data to guide public health decisions and resource allocation.