07 || June || 2023
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Issue #33
Communities: Data Community Africa
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Greetings ET people 🖖🏾
If you’re looking to enter or go further in the gripping world of data-driven wonders, where numbers dance and insights sparkle, then this edition of Entering Tech is for you.
A few weeks ago, we began the discussion on communities in tech and how the right ones can help you thrive in your chosen field. Today, we’re talking data! If you’re already on your journey in this field, or looking to get in; fear not; you don’t have to go it alone.
Say hello to Data Community Africa, the space for connecting with like-minded souls who share your passion for turning raw data into gold. In this community, you’ll be able to learn more and grow through learning programmes, certified courses, job and internship opportunities and the good old power of community.
Happy reading, and may the data gods be ever in your favour!
by Pamela Tetteh and Timi Odueso.
Tech trivia
This week’s trivia is inspired by Apple’s new $3,500 AR goggles.
- What’s the difference between virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality?
What is Data Community Africa?
A few weeks ago, in a now-deleted tweet, I mentioned I was looking for an exceptional data analyst to feature on the Entering Tech Shorts.
Almost immediately, I got two recommendations from Tina Okonkwo—a data analyst we featured in Entering Tech #10—and another acquaintance. Both Tina and the acquaintance had recommended the same people: David Abu and Olanrewaju Oyinbooke. Within minutes, I had not only the Twitter handles of these two guys, but their email addresses and phone numbers as well.
When I asked how they both had these contacts, their responses were similar: David and Ola are popular in the data community because they’re helping newbies learn about data.
This story bears semblance to how Data Community Africa started: a tweet, and people looking to make change.
In March 2022, David Abu tweeted, “We want to run a data conference in Nigeria that includes all data roles in the workplace. It will be called DATAFEST2022. The goal is to understand different aspects of data and how all data life cycles have evolved over time.”
With Gift Ojeabulu, a data scientist with over 10 years of experience, and Olanrewaju Oyinbooke, Abu hosted the first-ever event showcasing all data roles in the African space.
But what started off as DataFestAfrica, an event attended by over 4,000 people, has now evolved into a community of like-minded individuals who are relentlessly pursuing three goals: community, job opportunities and scaling—so people in data can grow in their career journeys.
And that’s how Data Community Africa started.
How Data Community Africa works
- Data analysts, scientists, and everyone in data
- 2,000
- Nil. Absolutely free
- Discord
If you’re wondering what the benefits of joining Data Community Africa are, here are a few:
A. Monthly learning programme: Every month, the community hosts a series of online workshops and tutorials designed to help data professionals in Africa learn new skills and stay up-to-date on the latest trends in data science and machine learning. The programme is open to all levels of experience, from beginners to experienced professionals. In the past, the programmes have hosted tutors like Bitergia’s Ruth Ikegah.
B. Job Opportunities: Data Community Africa has partnered with a number of companies to offer job opportunities for data professionals. For example, it recently partnered with the African Development Bank to offer a data fellowship programme for young data professionals to develop the skills they need to work in the financial sector. It’s also partnered with Propel and Deep Brown Consulting to help data professionals find jobs. Since the community kicked off less than 6 months ago, at least eight community members have found jobs!
C. Skill development: So we’ve mentioned the monthly learning programme at Data Community Africa. But there are even more opportunities where newbies can gain data skills. The community offers a variety of skill development opportunities for data professionals, including online courses, workshops, and meetups. For example, it has partnered with DataCamp—a global data learning platform to offer online courses and certification programmes that data professionals can complete to demonstrate their skills and knowledge.
D. Events: Data Community Africa started from an event, so it stands that the community will keep hosting physical meet-ups and other events for its members. While we have it on good account that DataFestAfrica 2023 is coming soon 🤫, members have also participated in datathons where data professionals can show off their skills and win prizes of up to ₦400,000 ($900).
E. Community: Finally, there’s the first reason Gift and David founded Data Community Africa in the first place: to bring data professionals together in a space where they can grow. And the Community has a lot of that. On Discord, DCA has over 2,000 members while its Twitter page boasts of 17.3k engaged followers.
What people say about Data Community Africa
Speaking of community, here are a few rockstars who you will meet when you join Data Community Africa and what they’re saying:
If you’re a data professional or you’re looking to enter tech through data, the good news is that Data Community Africa is free and ready to help. All you have to do is click a button.
The Entering Tech Shorts
Speaking of data, what do data analysts do and how can you become one? In this one-minute video, senior cloud advocate at Microsoft, Olanrewaju Oyinbooke, explains what data analysts do and if Professor X from the X-men really is one.
Ask a techie
Q. What are the career paths in technical writing?
There’s a lot you can do with technical writing. Other than just documenting processes for tech and product teams, here are a couple of other career paths technical writing fits in.
Technical writers can morph into content writers and developers for tech teams. Instead of just documenting processes, you can join the content, creative or marketing team of a company and help them create content that markets their products and services.
Technical writing can also feed into technical communication and product management which is where one manages stakeholder communications and processes involved in building a product.
That’s all we can take this week. Have any questions about working in tech? Ask away and we’ll find answers for you.👇🏾
Here’s where to find your first tech job
If you’re interested in kicking off your career in tech, here’s a list of job boards that regularly upload their platform with African tech jobs.
Tech trivia answers
AR uses digital visual, audio, and sensory elements to enhance the appearance of something in the physical world and provide real-life interaction. They’re basically the TikTok and Instagram filters we use everyday. It involves already existing physical spaces.
Virtual Reality (VR) is the use of computers to create interactive 3-dimensional (3D) environments. Unlike AR, VR doesn’t depend on the physical environment to create interactive spaces. The metaverse is a perfect example.
And MR or mixed reality uses both AR and VR. That’s it! You can read more here.
Opportunities
- If you are a young (no older than 24 years of age) and emerging photographer looking to embark on a career in the world of photojournalism, the Ian Parry Photojournalism Grant 2023 (up to £10,000) is open for Applications. Apply by August 31.
- Applications are open for the Google Women Techmakers Ambassador Program 2023. If you are 18 years or older, you stand a chance to network with over a thousand Ambassadors worldwide, lead and organise events in your tech community with support from Google, and receive exclusive access to Google-led talks and workshops. Apply June 30.
- The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) cohort 2 for young Nigerians has partnered with Coursera to offer learning scholarships that will enable Nigerian citizens to obtain professional certifications from some of the world’s leading multinational tech companies ( e.g Meta, Google, IBM) and top-ranked US universities. Apply by June 14.
- UNESCO has opened its call for applications for the 2023 edition of the UNESCO International Literacy Prizes. Six awards will be granted to individuals or organisations for their outstanding projects that promote literacy learning. Apply by July 12.
Jobs
- PayU – Product Manager – Cape Town, South Africa (Hybrid)
- Steer73 – Senior Product Manager – South Africa (Remote)
- iKhokha – Software Engineer – South Africa (On-site)
- PalmPay – Product Manager – Lagos, Nigeria (On-site)
- Tek Experts – UX Designer – Lagos, Nigeria (On-site)
- M-KOPA – Backend Engineer – .Net – Lagos, Nigeria (Remote)
- Ilara Health – WordPress Developer – Kenya (On-site)
- Cavista – Product Manager – Lagos, Nigeria (Remote)
There are more jobs on TechCabal’s job board.
Disclaimer: TechCabal is not affiliated with or associated with jobs and opportunities listed on all its job boards and newsletters. All applicants bear the responsibility of researching about the roles and companies they apply to.
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