Dr. Vukosi Marivate is the ABSA UP Chair of Data Science at the University of Pretoria. Vukosi works on developing Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence methods to extract insights from data. Over the last few years, a large part of his work has been in the intersection of Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing. Vukosi’s work in this area focuses on techniques to improve tools for and availability of data for local languages or low-resource languages. He currently serves as a chief investigator on the Masakhane NLP project and on the steering committee of the Lacuna Fund. As part of his vision for Data Science, Vukosi is interested in Data Science for Social Impact, using local challenges as a springboard for research. Vukosi has worked on projects in science, energy, public safety, and utilities in this area. Vukosi is a co-founder of the Deep Learning Indaba, the largest Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence workshop on the African continent, aiming to strengthen African Machine Learning.
