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ICDS 2021 - International Conference in Data Science 2021

To celebrate the 5th anniversary of the Center for Data Science, 20th anniversary of the Department of Statistics and as part of the centenary celebration of the Faculty of Science, the Center for Data Science jointly with the Department of Statistics, Faculty of Science, University of Colombo organized the first ever Data Science Conference in Sri Lanka. This VIRTUAL CONFERENCE was held on 29th and 30th June 2021.

Highlights

ICDS 2021 Highlights

In 2021, the Center for Data Science together with the Department of Statistics, University of Colombo, organized the first ever International Conference in Data Science in Sri Lanka. This virtual academic forum was organized in order to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the Center for Data Science, 20th anniversary of the Department of Statistics, and the 100th anniversary of the Faculty of Science, University of Colombo.

The International Conference in Data Science, 2021, was held for two consecutive days, on the 29th of June and on the 30th of June, featuring many exciting sessions, focused on the theme “Data Science, reshaping the future”. This enriching forum attracted some of the worlds renowned resource personnel and representatives, and it provided the public with a two-day learning opportunity.

Day one of the International Conference in Data Science started off with a lavish inaugural ceremony, featuring the keynote speech and guest speeches by distinguished personnel in statistics and data science research fields. The keynote speech of the conference was delivered by Professor John Emerson, who is a professor of statistics and the adjunct director of graduate studies in Yale University, USA. He enlightened the audience about the extraordinary evolution of data science from 2015 to 2021, with many examples from around the world.

Then, Professor Bibhas Chakraborty, who is an associate professor of Centre for Quantitative Medicine and Program in Health Services and Systems Research in Duke-National University of Singapore Medical School, conducted the first guest speech of the conference. The professor’s speech gave the audience a very thorough understanding about how statistics and data science can be used to build effective applications in mobile health.

The final highlight of the inaugural ceremony was the second guest speech by Professor Umashanger Thayasivam, who is a professor of statistics and data science in the Department of Mathematics, Rowan University, USA, and he shared his thoughts on the impacts of quantum computing on the future of data science.

The latter half of the day one of the International Conference in Data Science consisted of technical sessions, where presenters shared their research with the gathered audience. These research presentations were held according to six tracks, and they are Predictive Analytics, Data Visualization, Machine Learning, Deep learning and AI, Natural Language Processing, and Machine Learning and Predictive Analytics.

Day two of the International Conference in Data Science kickstarted its sessions just as energetically as the day before. The morning session consisted of two workshops to communicate novel concepts in data science with the public. The first workshop was conducted by Dr. G.P.Lakraj, who is a senior lecturer of the Department of Statistics, University of Colombo. He thoroughly explained the essentials of decision trees in machine learning to the gathered audience. The second workshop on ‘Introduction to Deep Learning’ was conducted by two resource persons from Acuity Knowledge Partners, Mr. Gamika Seneviratne and Mr. Devin Kandage.

The final round of the Mini-Hackathon was an exhilarating and fierce battle between the top five teams. Team Residuals, from University of Colombo emerged as champions, while Team Noob Hackers from University of Moratuwa became the runner up team. Team Enigma, from SLIIT secured the 2nd runner up position, while two teams from University of Peradeniya, Team SemicolonICDS and Team Bitlasagna, became 4th and 5th places, respectively. This thrilling competition brought a lavish end to the two-day International Conference in Data Science, organised by the Center for Data Science jointly with the Department of Statistics, University of Colombo.

Info

Conference Tracks

  1. Machine Learning
  2. Natural Language Processing
  3. Deep Learning and AI
  4. Data Visualization
  5. Predictive Analytics
  6. Causal Inference
  7. Data Ethics and Security

Important Dates

Event Key Date
Abstract Submission Deadline (Closed) April 10, 2021
Decision of the Abstract Made June 1, 2021
Virtual Conference Registration Opens June 1, 2021
Speaker Registration Deadline June 10, 2021
Deadline to Submit Camera Ready Copy June 20, 2021
Conference June 29-30, 2021

STRATEGIC AND KNOWLEDGE PARTNER

TECHNICAL PARTNER

Committee

Advisory Committee

Prof. Chandrika N Wijeyaratne
SENIOR PROFESSOR
Vice-Chancellor
Email: chandrika@obg.cmb.ac.lk

Prof. Upul Sonnadara
SENIOR PROFESSOR
Dean, Faculty of Science
Email: upul@phys.cmb.ac.lk

Prof. M.R. Sooriyarachchi
SENIOR PROFESSOR
Department of Statistics
Email: roshini@stat.cmb.ac.lk

Prof-Wickremasinghe

Dr. Nimal Wickremasinghe
FORMER PROFESSOR IN STATISTICS
Department of Statistics
Email: wnw@stat.cmb.ac.lk

Dr. Ruvan Weerasinghe
SENIOR LECTURER
University of Colombo School of Computing
Email: arw@ucsc.cmb.ac.lk

Organizing Committee

Keynote Speakers

Keynote/Invited Speakers

Prof. John Emerson
Keynote Speaker
Professor of Statistics, Adjunct/ Director of Graduate Studies,
Yale University

Jay Emerson is Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Statistics and Data Science at Yale University. His academic work has included Bayesian change point analysis, statistics in sports, computational statistics and graphics, and environmental science. He is the lead statistician of the Yale Environmental Performance Index, and is working to apply similar rigor to the analysis of ESG metrics for applications in finance.

Prof. Bibhas Chakraborty
Guest Speaker
Associate Professor
Centre for Quantitative Medicine and Program in Health Services and Systems Research
Duke-NUS Medical School

Bibhas Chakraborty is an Associate Professor and Ex-Director of the Centre for Quantitative Medicine at the Duke-National University of Singapore Medical School (Duke-NUS), as well as an Associate Professor of Statistics and Applied Probability at the National University of Singapore. He also holds an Adjunct Associate Professor position at the Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics at Duke University. Previously (2009-13), he was an Assistant Professor of Biostatistics at Columbia University. He completed his Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of Michigan, under the supervision of Prof. Susan A. Murphy in 2009. He is the recipient of the Calderone Research Prize for Junior Faculty from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health in 2011, and the Young Statistical Scientist Award from the International Indian Statistical Association (IISA) in 2017. His core areas of research include statistical reinforcement learning, precision medicine, dynamic treatment regimens, mobile/digital health, adaptive clinical trial designs, and a variety of applications in clinical and behavioral sciences. He wrote the first textbook on dynamic treatment regimens.

Prof. Umashanger Thayasivam
Guest Speaker
Professor of Statistics and Data Science
Department of Mathematics
Rowan University

Dr. Umashanger Thayasivam, PhD, earned his doctoral degree for his research work on Mixture distribution at the University of Georgia. He is currently a Professor in Statistics & Data Science at the Rowan University New Jersey. At the university he lecturers and trains both undergraduate and graduate students. He received Teaching Wall of Fame award for his excellence in teaching in 2018. His interdisciplinary statistical research has spanned diverse areas including mixture distribution, robust estimation, high dimensional data analysis, statistical data mining, biomarker discovery, and educational data mining. He has an excessive experience with collaborating scientist engineers. He has several journal publications and numerous conference presentations. He has been PI/co-PI for several internal and external grants and collaborations, including the recent data mining project with Bristol Myers Squibb pharmaceutical company as well as the NIH grant on blood-based biomarkers for early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. He also has extensive experience in mentoring student research in statistical/data mining research within the last ten years mentored more than 40 undergraduate students, many of which have presented their works at regional and national conferences. Several of his publications are with undergraduate students.

Schedule

Conference Schedule

Conference

Post Conference Virtual Workshops

Two virtual post-conference workshops are organized as a part of the ICDS 2021 conference events for those who are interested in the areas of machine learning and deep learning. Both workshops will be conducted by experts in Data Science who have experience in academia or industry. These workshops are designed to give its participants a dive into both theory and practical applications of the specified areas.

1. WORKSHOP on Essentials of Decision Trees in Machine Learning

30th June 2021 from 9 am – 12 noon (IST) via Zoom

What will be covered?

  1. Introduction to decision trees
  2. Basic concepts of regression trees and classification trees
  3. Tree building algorithms
  4. Overfitting of decision trees
  5. Tree pruning
  6. Basics concepts of Bagging
  7. Basics concepts of Random Forest

Prerequisites
Knowledge and Skills

  • Basic knowledge in Statistics
  • Intermediate R

Software and hardware

  • RStudio

Resource Person:

Dr. G.P.Lakraj
Senior Lecturer
Department of Statistics, University of Colombo

First come first serve. Send in your application for registration.

https://forms.gle/biu5A3XRkt7wv8m69

Registration Deadline: 20th June 2021
Workshop Fee: 2500 LKR

2. WORKSHOP on Introduction to Deep Learning

30th June 2021 from 1 pm – 4 pm (IST) via Zoom

What will be covered?

  1. Demand for AI in industry
  2. Foundations and mathematics of Deep Learning
      • Neural network Architecture
      • Mechanics of forward and backward propagation
      • Optimizers
      • Practical Implementations
      • Roadmap for further study

Prerequisites
Knowledge and Skills:-

    • Basic linear algebra and calculus
      1. Vector and Matrix multiplication, matrix invertibility and dot product
      2. Familiarity with derivatives and integration (eg:Chain rule)
    • Intermediate Python
      1. Experience with Pandas
      2. Numpy
      3. Working with functions
      4. Generic Python operations
      5. Preliminary exploration of Keras (Highly recommended)[RJ1]

Software and Hardware:-

    • You only need a google account and a good internet connection !!!
    • All codes will be run on Google Colab

Resource Persons:

Gamika Seneviratne
Assistant Director
Investment Research
Acuity Knowledge Partners

Devin Kandage
Senior Associate
Quantitative Research
Acuity Knowledge Partners

First come first serve.

Since prerequisites are important to follow the workshop and to get the maximum benefit, participants will be screened. Please send your application for the workshop by filing the following online form. Suitable applicants will be informed of the registration process within 1- 2 days after receiving the application.

https://forms.gle/vSpS8CkdxZ7SyW7w8

Registration Deadline: 20th June 2021
Workshop Fee: 2500 LKR

Mini-Hackathon

Mini-Hackathon

The Mini Hackathon, organized in collaboration with the Center for Data Science, University of Colombo, Creative Software and the Stat Circle of University of Colombo, as part of the first ever International Conference in Data Science in Sri Lanka.
This competition is open for undergraduates in both government and private Sri Lankan universities.

The final Round of the Mini-Hackathon: 30th June 2021 at 4.30 PM

Instructions for the competition

General Instructions

  • The competition will be held virtually.
  • A team should consist of 4 members.
  • Registration is open from the 29th of May until the 5th of June 2021.
  • The competition is open for participants representing any government or private Sri Lankan University.
  • All the team members from the same University/Institution are preferred (not mandatory).
  • There will be 3 rounds: Preliminary round, Semi final round and the Final round.
  • Top 10 teams who get the highest score in terms of the competition accuracy and the report will be selected to the semi final round.
  • Out of the first 10 teams in the semi final round, the top 5 teams will be selected to the final round by a panel of experts.
  • Then top 3 teams will be ranked by a panel of experts based on the presentation and the demonstration.
  • A general awareness of Data Analytics Algorithms, Data Analytics Tools and Software will be sufficient as a background requirement for the contestants.
  • Tools that can be used: R and/or Python

Proceedings

Conference Proceedings