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Data Centre & Analytics Lab hosts Women in Data Science Bangalore Conference 2023 on 8th April

The 5th Women in Data Science conference took participants a step forward in their pursuits   

10 April, 2023, Bengaluru: In a bid to inspire and empower women data researchers, the Data Centre and Analytics Lab (DCAL) at IIM Bangalore hosted the Women in Data Science (WiDS) Bangalore Conference 2023 on 8th April 2023 (Saturday). A Stanford University initiative, IIMB hosted the 5th annual WiDS regional conference, featuring accomplished women Data Scientists and luminaries, among others. 

The one-day technical conference provided an opportunity to learn about the latest Data Science-related research and applications in a broad set of domains, learn how leading-edge organizations leverage Data Science for success, and connect with potential mentors and collaborators in the field. 

The WiDS initiative aims to inspire and educate Data Scientists worldwide, regardless of gender, and to support women in the field. The event included a global conference with around 150 regional events worldwide; a datathon encouraging participants to hone their skills using a social impact challenge, and a podcast featuring leaders in the field discussing their work, their journey and lessons learnt. 

The conference showcased technical speakers from diversified organizations and labs doing extraordinary work in the Data Science domain such as IBM Research Labs, Microsoft, PayPal, Walmart, American Express, Thomson Reuters, IDFC FIRST Bank, Honeywell, among others. Each of these leading companies held their own sessions during the conference. Enthusiasts across the Analytics domain, from industry and academia, participated in the event.

Dr. Rohini Srivathsa, National Technology Officer of Microsoft India, delivered the keynote address on ‘Demystifying Generative AI’. Pointing out that AI is an essential tool in our toolbox, she said that it alone cannot resolve all our issues. “All of us need to work together with AI to make it functional and relevant. Today, we can see the impact of AI as a pilot in our own work area, similarly we need to replicate it in other fields as well. With such tools at our disposal, we can definitely generate better results."

Shirsha Ray Chaudhuri, Director of Engineering – TR Labs at Thomson Reuters, discussed the company's ongoing efforts to develop AI and ML products with a focus on meeting the needs of their customers. "We look into who is going to consume our data and what Thomson Reuters is going to do with the content, and how we use it to create products." She also emphasized the importance of considering the existing ecosystems in which AI would be implemented, as well as the tools and technologies needed to build sustainable AI. “The products being developed by TR Labs are currently focused on tax and compliance, and the existing ecosystem has enabled model monitoring.” She gave a preview of the infrastructure being developed for enterprise-scale AI. “While there are roadblocks to the widespread acceptance of AI, including acceptable accuracy, integration, consistency and sustainability, TR Labs is working to address these challenges in its ongoing development efforts.”

Highlighting the implications of AI in banking, Shrutika Poyrekar, VP, Lead Data Scientist – Fraud & Operations at IDFC FIRST Bank, said that AI is the need of the hour. “It is important that we start addressing the use of AI in the banking sector, especially, when it comes to loan application fraud. We also need to understand the role of data labeling, evaluation metrics, feature architecture and its overall implication. Moreover, since the banking sector is highly regulated, there are certain challenges in terms of data updation. With AI, we are looking at creating top features for the products that we have, so that we can minimize the risks of loan application fraud. Additionally, the adoption of AI will help us in streamlining the process more efficiently."

With over 23 years of experience in the AI segment, Shweta Shandilya, Executive Director, Data Management and Governance, Kochi Lab at IBM, demonstrated the use of AI in financial services and spoke about the integration of AI. "IBM is an enterprise where we use and integrate AI for various sectors including banking, telecom and retail. The journey of data is important. Our key role is to look into structuring the data and make it accessible. We have to keep an eye out on the data produced by AI and refine it so that we can make decisions based on AI suggestions. To trust AI is a big decision in itself and that is where Data Science plays a major role. Data Science is not just about using the exact content of data but mastering the data. While AI is promising, its effective implementation still remains a question."

Rajani Mani, Global Datasciences and Analytics Leader at Atlassian, emphasized the importance of ownership and collaboration in building successful AI solutions. "The people who do really well in the AI segment are not necessarily the best data scientists. They are the people who take ownership and spend time understanding AI. For effective results, it is imperative they integrate AI during their decision-making process. There is a need to identify the right problems to solve and align AI solutions with business strategy, rather than treating AI as an afterthought. Collaboration between business SMEs and Data Scientists is the key to successful projects, with the SME serving as the champion and the Data Scientist explaining how solutions work. The explainability and transparency in AI solutions, along with the need to consider how solutions will be consumed and integrated, are also crucial. By building solutions with errors in mind and planning for failure, trust can be established in AI solutions at scale.”

The WiDS Bangalore ambassadors who coordinated the conference were Prof. U Dinesh Kumar, Chairperson, Data Centre and Analytics Lab and faculty in the Decision Sciences area of IIMB, Afreen Aman, Ashwini Chandrashekaraiah, Binu Midhun, Harini Anand, Harini Thammaiah, Pallavi Pannu, Preeti Ravikiran, Riti Dass, Sananda Chakravarti and Shailaja Grover.

The conference was a great opportunity for Data Science enthusiasts to engage, learn and grow.

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