The Macau Data Science Application Association, aka Macau Data Lab (MODL), announced in a statement on Saturday that it has recently been approved as an officially registered association in Macau.
According to the statement, the association has organised data science meetups for nearly two years and “gathers data enthusiasts who wish to discuss data science techniques, stories, present their work, or simply meet their peers in an informal setting”.
The statement defined data science as a discipline aimed at making data more useful, and is particularly at the centre of the latest artificial intelligence (AI) innovations, mostly based on “deep learning models”.
MODL’s founder and chairman Xavier Mathieu was quoted in the statement as saying that there is an extensive number of references, books, videos and articles online to learn the theory or techniques on the discipline, which can be overwhelming for people wanting to learn it and can make them believe “that AI is a magic wand”.
Pointing out the importance of learning by doing, Mathieu said: “The best way to understand is to practise: there is no better way to really learn something than doing an actual project and exchange with others”, which can be more fun and is the spirit of MODL.
Mathieu brought the association’s concept to Macau in 2019 from the Hong Kong data lab, a group he previously founded, with the first event being the screening of a movie on data science, the statement said. Data passionate professionals such as co-founders Chon Lai and Freedom Szeto and other professionals such as Adam Zheng and Rodrigo Reis joined the meetups and developed them further.
The statement underlined that this enthusiasm shows the city’s potential to become a “lively place for data science”, which could bring about “a modern future away from traditional corporations” and diversify Macau’s economy.
The statement said that the association hopes to fulfil its mission of “raising the profile of data science in [the] GBA [Greater Bay Area]” and become a central meeting point in Macau for anybody interested or involved in data science such as curious individuals and executives looking for growth strategies.
The statement noted that the meetups, which usually comprise a data-science themed workshop and discussions of data products, among others are announced on https://www.facebook.com/hkdatalab.
This image downloaded from the Imprensa Oficial website yesterday shows the association’s logo.
