Omdena’s Capacity Building Program for AI-Driven Climate Change Solutions With Climate-KIC
- Starts
- January 6, 2025
- Apply by
- December 2, 2024 at 11:59 (EAT; UTC+03:00)
Overview
The Omdena Capacity Building Program is designed to equip learners with both foundational knowledge and specialized skills in AI and data science, with a focus on addressing climate-related challenges. Over six to eight months, participants will progress through structured learning phases, gradually building expertise and applying their knowledge to real-world problems. The program culminates in hands-on projects, both guided and independent, where learners solve local or global climate challenges.
Climate Change in Tanzania
Tanzania, like many countries around the world, is grappling with the impacts of climate change. Increasingly unpredictable weather patterns and extreme weather events such as heatwaves, heavy rainfall, droughts and floods, which are disrupting the daily lives and futures of many, particularly those in rural areas.
Adapting to these impacts is essential for protecting people, homes, livelihoods, businesses, infrastructure and natural ecosystems, both now and in the future.
This program is aiming to leverage AI to help develop climate adaptation solutions that help protect people, livelihoods and landscapes from the effects of climate change. Participants will be:
- Learning how AI, Data Science and platforms such as Copernicus can be leveraged to develop climate adaptation solutions.
- Applying this knowledge to developing climate adaptation solutions for Tanzania.
- Testing their skills in a pilot project focused on real-world impacts.
About Climate-KIC
Climate-KIC is Europe’s leading climate innovation agency and community, supporting cities, regions, countries and industries to bridge the gap between climate commitments and current reality. In 2022 Climate-KIC (funded by Irish Aid) launched the Adaptation Innovation Cluster in Tanzania, which aims to increase the climate resilience of rural communities through collaboration and innovation. This includes creating an enabling environment that promotes climate solutions throughout the country, stimulating the growth of new green start-ups, innovation and investment.
Program phases
Phase 1: Foundation Course (12 weeks)
The Foundation Course provides live online lectures focused on foundational AI concepts, including AI fundamentals, ethics, and real-world applications, specifically crafted for those new to AI and machine learning.
- Goal: Equip learners with foundational data science and AI skills.
- Core Topics: Python programming, data collection, exploratory data analysis (EDA), data visualization, machine learning, and web application development.
- Learning Outcomes: By the end of this phase, learners will develop a Data Science Portfolio Web Application showcasing their acquired skills.
- Assessments: Quizzes, assignments, and a comprehensive end-to-end data science project.
See the details: Foundation Course Content
Phase 2: Specialized Learning With Focus on Climate Change Solutions (4 weeks)
- Goal: Develop expertise in specific areas of interest related to climate change.
- Topics: Participants will choose 2-3 guided project courses from topics such as Natural Language Processing (NLP), Computer Vision, and Satellite Image Analysis.
- Example Projects:
- NLP Empowered Climate Data Dashboard: Visualizing Climate Change Impacts and Mitigating Nature-Based Solutions
- Building Climate and Credit Risk Scoring for African SMEs With AI
- Optimizing & Deploying Climate and Credit Risk Scoring for African SMEs With AI
- Improving Extreme Weather Forecasts Using AI
- Predicting Climate and Geopolitical Risks for Financing Energy Needs in Africa
See the details: Specialized Learning Course
Phase 3: Real-World Applications for Climate Change (8 weeks)
- Goal: Apply skills to solve local or global climate challenges.
- Execution: Participants work on Omdena’s real-world AI projects, identifying and addressing critical issues faced by local communities or joining international innovation challenges.
Phase 4: Top Talent Project (4 weeks)
- Goal: Offer paid opportunities for top performers.
- Execution: The top 5% of participants may work on paid projects with real customers to optimize or deploy AI applications.
Program details
Program Schedules
- Omdena provides a weekly guide with all resources required for the upcoming week.
- A monthly calendar for each module, including topics, session duration, and instructor information, will be shared.
Group Size
- 100 participants
Learning Platform
- Platforms: Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or G-meet.
- Recording will be available right after the session.
- Materials: GitHub classroom.
Periodic Assessments, Support, and Performance Reviews
- Omdena provides regular updates on your progress to keep everyone informed.
- If you need extra help, Omdena’s instructors are available for additional support and sessions.
- You can access peer-to-peer mentoring through Omdena’s global talent pool.
- You’ll receive a certificate from both Omdena and Climate-KIC upon completing each module.
Ready to take part?
Use the program provider link to review the current application details.