EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The University of , through the Department of Computer Science, hosted the 2nd Data Visualization Conference called VizAfrica 2019 attracted 189 participants

The VizAfrica 2019 Data Visualization Symposium took place in the period 18th -19th November 2019 at the University of Botswana Conference Centre, , Botswana. The symposium also included a one weeks Summer School training on Data Science/Visualization. The conference aimed at reaching out to and interacting with international community, the general public, entrepreneurs, scientists and policy makers on advances in technological innovations for social economic development and industrialization

Participants were drawn from government ministries, universities, research organizations, corporate, small and medium scale industries (SMEs), policy makers in key sectors of the economy and from international organizations

The theme of the symposium was “Application of Data, Information and Scientific Visualization for Resource Management and Sustainability.” Around 40 successful presentations were accepted and delivered after a rigorous review process and administered over 10 sessions under the following sessions

1. Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation 2. Computer Graphics, Media and Animation 3. Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security 4. Data Analytics, Visualization and IoTs 5. Policy Design, Analysis and Strategic Management 6. Universal Health Coverage

At the concluding Closing Ceremony, it was agreed to formulate Viz Africa Network that will tap into participants of the past two conferences and extend new membership. The Network will serve to promote VizAfrica Activities. It was also agreed that the next VizAfrica 2020 to be held side by side with the International Open Data Conference -IODC year scheduled for the 16-20th November 2020 in

CONFERENCE COMMITTEE

Viz Africa was hosted by University of Botswana, Department of Computer Science taking responsibility for the local organizing of the event while the overall running of the conference was organized an International Program Committee from various institutions as show below;

International Program Committee

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Dr Audrey N Masizana, Host & Co-Chair University of Botswana, Botswana Prof Muliaro Wafula Co-Chair Jomo of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya Dr Simon Hodson CODATA, France Dr Tshiamo Motshegwa, University of Botswana, Botswana Mr. Musakali Joseph Juma , Kenya Prof. Koji Koyamada Kyoto University, Japan Dr. Alena Rybkina Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia Prof LI Jianhui Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China Prof Margaret Oloko Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya Prof.Benjamin Aribisala Lagos State University, Prof. Xiaoru Yuan Peking University, China Mr. Michael Situma Moi University, Kenya Prof. Yirsaw Ayalew University of Botswana, Botswana Dr. John Kinyuru Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya Ms. Becky Abraham Pathways International, USA Dr Agnes Mindila Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya Ms Harriet Ratemo Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya Mr. Zablon Akoko Mbero University of Botswana, Botswana Ms. Juanita Kasili Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya Dr. T. Mogotlhwane University of Botswana, Botswana Mr. Kagiso Ndlovu University of Botswana, Botswana Prof. Michael Best Geogia Tech, USA Ms. Onneile Tibi University of Botswana, Botswana

This committee met on a bi-weekly basis to discuss issues related to the conference. Notes from the meetings were recorded on a shared Google Drive, created for planning purposes

OFFICIAL OPENING

The conference was officially opened by the Vice Chancellor, Of the University of Botswana, Prof David Norris. The High Commissioner for Kenya was represented. The Conference Co-Chair Prof Joseph Muliaro gave an overview of the objectives and Dean of the Faculty of Science, Prof Julius Atlhopheng gave an official vote of thanks.

KEY NOTE SPEAKERS

The conference was honored with leading subject matter experts as keynote speakers namely: • Prof Koji Koyamada- Academic Center for Computing and Media Studies, Kyoto University, Japan • Prof Bhekisipho Twala- Durban University of Technology, 2 | P a g e

• Prof Thomas Ertl – Visualization Research Center, University of Stuttgart Germany • Prof YUAN Xiaou- Peking University, China

THEMES AND SAMPLED PAPERS

1. Computer Graphics, Media and Animation

M005: Data Visualization with GUI Tools Presented by Luqmaan Hassim M006: Data Management and Visualization System for Educational E-Learning Presented by Ontiretse Ishmael.

2. Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation

C001: Ecological engineering to mitigate eutrophication in the flooding zone of the river Nyong Presented by Green. C005: Interpretable predictive analytics for predictability of weather patterns using data from the Automated Weather Station Presented by Tsaone Thapelo. C006: Smart Grid Utilization- Policy option as a response measure to climate change Presented by Masedi Tshukudu.

3. Data Analytics, Visualization and Internet of Things (IoTs)

D001: Data Warehouse framework for an integrated personal identification systems: Application to DNA data Presented by Molly Kgobathe. D003: The impact of network size on the throughput and energy consumption of a magnet utilizing AODV Presented by Zablon Mbero. D005: visualization FOR Improved Examination Timetabling Presented by Wame Raseonyana.

4. Computer Graphics, Media and Animation

M008: Visualizing of Experiments for Semantic segmentation of images with overlapping particles Presented by Tsholofetso Taukubong. M009: Understanding and Assessing students ‘SQL Queries in database courses Presented by Gontlafetse Mosweunyane.

5. Reviews Policy Design, Analysis and Strategic Management

P002: Visibilities of information systems (IS) policies of universities in the SADC Region and possible implications Presented by Oduronke Eyitayo. Data Analytics, Visualization and Internet of Things(IoTs) D006: Visualization for Development of Discreet Mathematics Intelligent Tutoring System Presented by Ofentse Rice. D007: Data and internet of things application for sustainable development: the implications for academic libraries Presented by Tebogo Khama. 6. E-Health and Universal Health Coverage 7. Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security

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VIZAFRICA 2019 SELECTED PHOTOS

Photo taken after VizAfrica 2019 Botswana opening session

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University of Botswana Vice Chancellor, Prof. David Norris giving his Speech

Section of participants following proceedings during the conference

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Entertainment group presentation during tea-break

Professors Xiaoru (China), Koyamada (Japan) and Yirsaw (Chair Department of Computer Science, UB attending conference session.

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On-going interview session for Summer School Trainers

Conference session in progress

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Keynote Speakers and Summer School Instructors

For more photos, please visit the link to ALL VizAfrica 2019 Botswana Photos at https://photos.app.goo.gl/4ExvEYHVkc6ye1cL6

VIZAFRICA 2019 BOTSWANA SUMMER SCHOOL TRAINING WORKSHOPS

The VizAfrica 2019 Summer School that was held from 11-15th was a pre-activity of the VizAfrica 2019 main conference that was held at University of Botswana Conference Centre from 18th – 19th November 2019. The summer school training ran under the theme: Data Analytics and Visualization. The school ran from 11th - 15th November and was supported by DARA BIG DATA project of Manchester University in UK and hosted by University of Botswana. The school was held at the Department of Computer Science Block 247, Lab 293. All labs sessions were scheduled to run from 09:00 to 18:00hrs. Delegate were required to bring laptops to download and access certain tools and data online. The summer school training attracted a total of 35 participants including the facilitators. The participation list consisted of a range of participants from government, parastatal, research centers, and universities from Botswana, South Africa and Nigeria. However, 21 participants paid for the training. And of the 21 participants, 20 attended the training. In addition, the summer school fees was waived for University of Botswana students who were interested but could not afford to pay the fees.

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The summer school training was delivered by the following partnering organizations:

Organization Course CSIR 's Centre for High Performance Computing in Hands training covering Linux command line; bash South Africa scripting, and python programming for science and engineering. https://www.chpc.ac.za/ Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Big Data Engineering Technology Rhodes University and South Africa Radio Astro Data Machine Learning and Visualisation Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) Tutorials. https://www.ska.ac.za/about/sarao/

Rhodes University and SARAO Workshop on Introduction to Development Economics for non-Social Scientists. http://www.astro4dev.org/ Kyoto University Computer Aided Engineering Workshop

Pathways International workshop on Business Intelligence https://www.pathwaysinternational.com/

Training Course Specific Notes

The training programme and additional information on the training can be accessed through the following links: https://vizafrica.codata.org/conference/2019-Botswana/Summer_School_Programme/ https://events.chpc.ac.za/event/78/

Linux & Python Courses 11th -14th November 2019

The following were the technical requirement for the training: Recent version of Ubuntu 16.04 must be installed (version before this still be fine). Web access to download examples and notes. vim (not just vi) nano, joe and gedit with syntax- highlighting plugin installed. Python 3 installed with the following additional Libraries: Numpy Scipy Matplotlib

Computer Aided Engineering, CAE (FEMAP) 15th November

The CAE training courses used FEMAP and Excel (Analysis Toolpak, Solver Add-in). Therefore, all participants installed a free trial version of FEMAP and Microsoft Excel.

In addition, all participants activated analysis tools and solver add-ins in Excel. The participants created a simple geometric model, analysed it using FEMAP, and exported the stress output to an Excel file to see how

9 | P a g e to define the Von mises stress. Participants also were introduced to a web-based visualization system for an unprecedented climate simulation ensemble and exported a precipitation dataset for a specified river basin. The data set was used to predict the water level using Excel.

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