Course Guide (Data Science Fellow)

Contract

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Background

CORPORATE BACKGROUND

UNDP works in about 170 countries and territories, helping to eradicate poverty, reduce inequalities and exclusion, and build resilience so countries can sustain progress. As the UN’s development agency, UNDP plays a critical role in helping countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Istanbul International Center for Private Sector in Development (ICPSD) is the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) global organization mandated to leverage the role of the private sector in development. The IICPSD was established in Istanbul, Türkiye based on the Partnership Framework Agreement signed between the Government of the Republic of Türkiye and the United Nations Development Program in March 2011. The center is one of the six global thematic policy centers of UNDP, supports the private sector and foundations to become transformative partners in development through research, advocacy, facilitation of public-private dialogue and brokering partnerships. ICPSD leads UNDP’s global work on private sector and foundations and supports UNDP’s offices all around the world.

FELLOWSHIP OFFICE BACKGROUND

The SDG AI Lab is a joint initiative of UNDP BPPS (Bureau for Policy and Programme Support) team, and it is hosted under UNDP IICPSD. The SDG AI Lab provides research, development, and advisory support through innovative digital solutions in harnessing the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for sustainable development. The Lab aims to strengthen the UNDP’s internal and its partners’ capacities for the increasing demand for digital transformation.

UNDP ICPSD’s SDG AI Lab, UN Technology Bank will jointly implement the Frontier Tech Leaders (FTL) Program for the LDCs (Least Developed Countries) to bridge the digital divide and contribute to the 2030 Agenda of sustainable development. The Frontier Tech Leaders Programme trains tech specialists in Least Developed Countries to develop digital solutions for developmental challenges. In this sense, it will inspire youth and provide them with the means for action. With a focus on encouraging young women to pursue education and careers in the field of technology, the Program will promote the gender equality in the field of frontier technologies.

The Programme has its first country implementation in Djibouti with the participation of 50 young participants and 20 government officials. The Djibouti implementation will start in November 2023. The young participants will benefit from the Machine Learning Bootcamp, local chapter activities, Virtual Digital Business Incubation Program and be a part of global tech leader community. Government officials will benefit from the frontier technology training as well. The Program will create synergies between two beneficiary groups by enabling them to develop solutions for SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) together.

SDG AI Lab’s Data Science Fellowship modality is based on UNDP’s Fellowship policy. The objective of the Data Science Fellowship is to provide the opportunity to work on how to deploy frontier technologies such as Data Science, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, Deep Learning (DL), Natural Language Processing (NLP), GIS, and Blockchain on development issues. In particular, the Fellow will support Frontier Tech Leaders Program’s training and community activities.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Fellow will assist in the following duties and responsibilities:

No

Duties and responsibilities

% of time

1

Support Frontier Tech Leaders Training component

• Plan and prepare materials for learning collaboratives on Machine Learning Bootcamp & government officials training in French;
• Conduct learning collaborative sessions on topics covering Machine Learning Bootcamp & government officials training in French;
• Host office hours for learners’ questions and inquiries;
• Teaching and assistance to students individually or in small groups;
• Facilitate communications and discussions among learners;
• Monitor and report each learner’s progress;
• Cultivate a positive, organized learning atmosphere.

50 %

2

Support Frontier Tech Leaders Community component in Djibouti

• Support Program Support Fellow of Djibouti implementation in organizing community events and engaging participants to the Programme;
• Facilitate communications and discussions within the community;
• Provide support to local chapter activities in Djibouti.

30 %

3

Development and implementation of digital solutions for SDGs with utilizing AI/ML/DL/NLP

• Support capstone projects, hackathons and project formulation and deployment throughout the Program;
• Develop ML and DL models applying supervised and unsupervised techniques on structured and unstructured Big Data;
• Build and deploy AI/ML/DL models using the relevant techniques;
• Design and implement data quality procedures to support data quality management activities for data pipelines;
• Research and experiment with customized software using the relevant techniques for the data such as NLP and GIS.

10 %

4

Other

• Provide as needed support to the Technical Specialist as required for, amongst others, participating in meetings, conferences, providing administrative support, drafting meeting minutes and performing other functions and duties.

10 %

Competencies

Competencies and attitude:

• Interest in innovative teaching, learning and assessment;
• Flexibility and capacity to teach (remotely) across a range of AI courses;
• Willingness and capacity to undertake continuous professional development related to technology use and to teach on these matters;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills including presentation skills, both face-to-face and online;
• Ability to engage and develop working relationships with program participants and project stakeholders;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Responds positively to feedback and differing points of view;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Candidates must meet one of the following educational requirements:

• currently enrolled in a postgraduate program (such as a Master’s program or higher);
• have graduated with a university degree or equivalent studies, shown below:

Field of study: Computer Science, Statistics, Data Science, Mathematics or equivalent.

IT skills:

• Strong proficiency in Python;
• Strong understanding of Machine Learning, Deep Learning and Natural Language Processing;
• Completion of AI/DL/ML certification from Coursera (i.e. Stanford University Machine Learning Specialization by Andrew Ng) is an asset;
• Knowledge of open-source software library such as TensorFlow, Scikit-Learn, Pandas, and NLTK is an asset;
• Familiarity with the Software Development tools including Git and GitHub.

Language skills:

• Fluency in French and English with excellent reading and writing skills is required.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE:

The application should contain:

• Brief Cover Letter (in English) stating interest in and qualifications for the post;
• Current and complete CV in English;
• Please group all your documents into one single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.

Candidates who are selected for must submit prior to the interview the following documents:

• Official document(s) confirming meeting at least one of the educational requirements.

Stipend:

During the time of the fellowship, UNDP will provide a monthly stipend.

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