Robi organizes the country’s first ever Datathon

Dhaka, 20 April 2019: With a vision to build capacity and talent in the field of data science and machine learning, country’s first ever Datathon competition has concluded with a grand success. A total of 84 Data Scientists and Data Engineers took part in the 24 hours long competition in 21 teams. The Datathon event was organized by the leading service provider of the country, Robi.

Google was part of the Datathon event as the cloud partner and Axiata Analytics was the technical support partner of the competition. The competition started on the 19th of April and finished on the 20th April. The two day long Datathon ended with the prize giving ceremony on the 20th April. Honorable State Minister for Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Zunaid Ahmed Palak, MP graced the prize giving ceremony event as the chief guest.

Robi’s Head of Corporate Strategy, Ruhul Amin gave the welcome speech at the prize giving ceremony. Robi’s Managing Director and CEO, Mahtab Uddin Ahmed along with members of the senior management were also present on the occasion. The ceremony was held at a city hotel.

The judges’ panel comprised of local and international experts declared team Instinct as the Champion of the competition. Abu Mohammad Shabbir Khan, Ishfaq Zaman, Nuren Shams, and Shariful Islam Foysal were members of the team, Instinct. Team, Best Fitted, secured the first runner-up and team, Outliers, secured the second runner-up position.

Besides, two individuals, Ishfaq Zaman and Nuren Shams, were adjudged as the Best Data Scientists and Md. Kief Hossain and Porimol Chandro were declared as the Best Data Engineers of the first Datathon of the country.

The Champion team was given two lakhs taka, the first runner up was given 1.5 lakhs taka, the second runner up was given one lakh taka and the Best two Data Scientists and the Best two Data Engineers were given one lakh taka each. In total, 8.5 lakhs taka prize money was distributed among the winners of the competition.

Tm Forum’s Ambassador for Big Data Analytics and Customer Experience, Prof Paul Morrison, Robi’s Head of IT, Asif Naimur Rashid, BUET’s Professor, Computer Science and Engineering (CSE), Dr. M. Sohel Rahman and Head of Axiata Analytics, Pedro Uria Recio were the panel judges for the final decision.

BUET’s Assistant Professor, CSE, Dr. Atif Hasan Rahman and Assistant Professor, CSE, Md. Shariful Islam Bhuiyan, Axiata’s Chief Data Scientist, Dr. Keeratpal Singh, Asia School of Business’s Professor, Willem Smit, Robi’s Vice President, Enterprise Business Intelligence, Hasib Mustabsir and Vice President, Resourcing, Zaved Parvez were also on the judges panel at the semi-final stage.

The registration for Datathon competition started on the 25th March. In order to register, aspiring applicants had to fill up a form provided by Axiata Analytics to complete the assessment questions. Based on the response to the assessment questions, 84 participants were shortlisted and took part in the final round of Datathon. After that the organizers helped the shortlisted participants to form a team of four members. In total, 21 teams competed with each other in the final round. They were assigned to solve various data science related problems within a stipulated timeline of 24 hours. A panel of judges examined the performance of each team based on a set criteria.

ICT State Minister, Zunaid Ahmed Palak, MP said: “The amount of data that is being generated every moment leaves us with two simple options; we can either be controlled by others or control the world using the power of data. The good part is we have the human resources to opt for the second option. From ICT Division, we have a plan to create 1000 Data Scientists over the next five years. The way Robi is coming forward with initiatives such as Datathon, will only make our job easier.”

Speaking on the occasion, Robi’s Managing Director and CEO, Mahtab Uddin Ahmed said: “Data Scientists and Data Engineers are the drivers of the Digital Economy. They are the ones who help organizations turn data into vital business insights to power their business. They are also crucial to the crafting of public policies through providing valuable data insights. Therefore, we are extremely proud to have been able to organize the first ever Datathon of the country. I believe this event will go a long way in creating a thriving community of Data Scientists and Data Engineers who are going to help the country to take Digital Bangladesh to the next level and make their mark in the global arena with their sheer talent.”