The University of Bahrain in partnership with Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) in the United Kingdom organized the second Big Data Symposium on Monday 10th of February 2020 as part of the activities of the M.Sc. in Big Data Science and Analytics which was recently launched and validated by LJMU to be the first master program of its kind in the Kingdom of Bahrain and among the first in the region. The symposium attracted academicians, professionals, and master students to learn more about important (indeed critical) issues relevant to big data. Moreover, several projects ideas have been presented by professors from the University of Bahrain and Liverpool John Moores University. These project ideas are provided to the program first cohort of students who are currently prepared to be the future data scientists.
President of UOB Prof Riyad Hamzah: “We strongly believe that through leveraging computational power and advanced analytics we are able to harness data possibilities in deriving the economy.
“We are anticipating that the presented ideas for master projects will open the door for a fruitful discussion towards new partnerships with stakeholders who have interest in leveraging big data to solve real-life problems.”
H.E. Mr. Roderick Drummond, the British Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain congratulated University of Bahrain for introducing this unique master program and emphasized on the importance of the innovative partnership with Liverpool John Moores University.
Dr. Aijan Sharshenova, Coordination and Research Analyst at UN Resident Coordinator’s Office spoke on behalf of H.E. Mr. Amin El Sharkawi, United Nations Resident Coordinator. She mentioned that developing postgraduate programs to equip students with the state-of-the-art skills such as the master program in big data science and analytics with no doubt is contributing towards the fulfillment of sustainable development goals. She also mentioned the essential role of collaboration like the one adopted by the University of Bahrain to foster education.
Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Technical Executive Director of Health Project, Supreme Council of Health presented examples of health-related projects they are working on as part of the project SEHATI. His Excellency emphasized on the importance of working master students on this project to improve medical services in the kingdom and enhance patient’s experiences.
Dr. Simon Galpin, the Managing Director at Bahrain Economic Board (EDB) said it is exciting to organize two symposiums on such a hot topic over two successive years. EDB is looking to utilize big data analytics for developing and facilitating its work. Then he mentioned HealthTech, FinTech and open banking as examples among the attractive fields for the use of big data.
The keynote speakers, Dr. Sandra Ortega Martorell (Senior Lecturer in Applied Mathematics, Liverpool John Moores University) and Dr. Hmood Al Dossari (Associate Professor, Department of Information Systems, King Saud University) mentioned the challenges in relation with big data use and presented some promising applications with case studies to highlight the potentials of big data in solving real-world problems.
