The Institute of Statistics and Data Science (ISADS) arose from the Academic Data Analysts (ADA). ADA has made major steps in the past several years towards the achievement of our objective to enhance access to world-class data analysis skills and open access tools to the less reached groups. ADA has trained slightly over 1000 participants from 16 countries in 4 continents via the series of 3 courses namely, the essential, intermediate and advanced R data analysis bootcamps. Need arose to increase our efforts in accelerating the achievement of this objective. ADA was therefore restructured to allow for academic partnerships, grants and credit transfer. ADA therefore morphed in the year 2022 into the Institute of Statistics and Data Science (ISADS).

ISADS is an institute and professional body whose major functions include:

1. Instruction (teaching and training courses): accredited and recognised courses via national and international bodies for the award of credits for degree or non-degree purposes. The as an institute supports sponsored instruction and training established by grant, contract, or cooperative agreements. Our open access course catalogue expands to include other open data science tools like python, SQL, QGIS etc. These are given via workshops, seminars, and online courses by leading analysts to produce recognised leaders who will contribute significantly to their professions.
2. Research and development in collaboration with and/or sponsored by agencies and organizations.
3. Research support activities involving outreach to the academic sector, industrial organizations and individuals. This includes the training of individuals in research design and analysis (also referred to as research training). To distinguish this training element from the instruction function (number 1 above), this implies training that utilizes the same facilities as research and development activities in number 1 above. This will include internships and research mentoring/ stays.
4. Data and statistics repository: this supports graduate student research, evidence-based policy making, industry and academic activities such as publications and conference presentations. Projects continue to produce enormous quantities of research data within the research ecosystem. Every year, scientists and industry generates a large pool of primary data from the many ongoing projects in diverse fields of study, research and practice. Beyond the primary data use, it is increasingly recognised that these strategic datasets could be re-used to provide insights and trends for modeling and utility purposes. ISADS has therefore established a centralized in-house research data-hub from where, data can be pooled from for secondary use or re-use.

The essential, intermediate and advanced R data analysis bootcamps offered via ADA remain key activities.

Alumni of ISADs will be lifelong professional members. As a member you will access a wealth of resources and insights including:

• Continuous skills improvement through access to monthly members-only free webinars and workshops on emerging trends. We have planned a series of workshops on important topics in statistics and data science such as Bootstrap approaches for statistical analysis, turning your analyses into high quality documents, reports, presentations and dashboards with R Markdown, simulating data in R (a useful tool for creating datasets with properties similar to your planned research for better planning and understanding your statistical methods and planning experimental designs), data visualization by adding elements/ layers in a fashion that allows for extensive flexibility and customization of plots in R’s ggplot2 etc.
• Subsidized registration as refresher participant into any course you have previously completed.
• Subsidized registration fee for ISADS organized conferences to enhance connections and learning from the best minds on state-of-the-art data analysis approaches.
• Networking Opportunities: the forum will form a deep well to draw advice from including on specialized analysis, scholarships, employment opportunities, and mentorship.
• Exclusive Online Resources: exclusive access to journals, articles, webinars, infographics, and message boards to add value to your professional growth and development.

We look forward to your participation as a community member in our continued push towards increased accessibility to world class data science and analysis tools and best practices.