The international Chair “Data Science Institute” has been renewed

Orange Group, Société Générale Côte d'Ivoire, the Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny (INP-HB), the Institute of Statistics and Applied Economist (ENSEA), École Polytechnique (l’X) and the Foundation of École Polytechnique are renewing the “Data Science Institute” international Chair to continue its international teaching programme in data science.

Inaugurated in 2017 and currently co-headed by three university lecturer and researcher, Alain Durmus, at l'X, Lambert Tanoh, at INP-HB, and Nathaniel Gbenro, at ENSEA, the "Data Science Institute" Chair aims to accelerate the rise in data management skills in Côte d'Ivoire, and more broadly in West Africa.

One of its main objectives has been the creation and launch of its Master's degree in “Data science, Big data and Artificial Intelligence”, a two-year course in mathematical and computer engineering offered on the INP-HB campus, which will see its 6th class graduate in November 2024. Since its creation, the Chair has trained more than 135 data scientists, data engineers and data analysts working for a number of companies in Côte d'Ivoire and Africa.

In parallel with this Master's programme, a 30-module continuing education course for managers has been launched and is provided by ENSEA.

Building on the success of these two courses, a research component was added to the Chair to welcome PhD students, whose thesis is co-supervised by the research teams in both Côte d'Ivoire and France.

The renewal of the Chair, which was celebrated on 8 July 2024 on the premises of École Polytechnique, aims to consolidate its activities and extend its scope to include research, particularly into cybersecurity issues.

As a result, a Master's degree in “Security, Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence”, supported and run by the INP-HB, has been developed. The courses are taught by INP-HB teaching staff and specialists from the sector. The aim of this Master's degree is to train the future talents of Ivorian and African companies in the development of AI as a tool in the fight against cyber-attacks.