In his education journey, Aime Ishimwe Beza joined the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) in Rwanda from 2018-2020 for his MSc. in Mathematical Sciences, Cooperative Education Program. He observed that Rwanda generated a lot of data that needed analysing for solutions using mathematical sciences. In his quest to become a Data Scientist, he joined AIMS, following his BSc. In Electronics and Telecommunications from the University of Rwanda (UR) in 2017.   

Aime joined the Rwanda Information Society Agency (RISA) for a ten-month internship which allowed him to apply his skills in Data Science. He worked on the Government Command Centre (GCC) dashboard. He researched key government documents such as sector strategic plan (SSP) and National Strategy for Transformation (NST1), on which he performed data analysis to produce reports according to set performance indicators.    

His excellent command of data wrangling, statistical analysis, and machine learning model skills made the assignment enjoyable and led to identifying errors in SSP and NST1. “Through the knowledge from AIMS, I found those errors, and I reported them,” he said. He further proposed a method to get accurate data for use in SSP and NST1 for all ministries, which RISA adopted in the GCC.    

After RISA, Aime joined the AIMS Rwanda Centre IT Department to practice the mathematical science skills acquired in the classroom in solving challenges facing the community. He ensured a smooth running of the IT network at the Centre, serving the students, lecturers, and the management, especially during this time of COVID-19 when a significant percentage of learning is carried out online, and staff is working remotely. 

Both internships at RISA and the AIMS Rwanda Centre were opportunities for Aime to practice and hone his data science and networking skills. Aime also says that he also acquired New valuable life skills. “The Internships gave me tremendous hands-on research experience, and my leadership skills were also improved greatly,” he added. The work environment at AIMS Rwanda and RISA was friendly, enabling Aime to be engaged and learn from his colleagues’ skills that one cannot easily acquire in a classroom setting. “Fortunately, because of their feedback and daily tasks, I have managed to improve the leadership, communication, problem-solving, and networking skills,” he states.   

Aime says that the internships opened new insights into his future career. Currently, he is focusing on learning additional skills in cybersecurity to manage network attacks better. “In this regard, I want to continue my studies in cybersecurity-related to data for the better fight against the different technology attacks.” 

Aime suggests that AIMS includes a unit on IT entrepreneurship to equip students with IT environment operations and hands-on experience in software development. To fellow AIMS alumni, Aime reminds them of the valuable skills that the institution imparts on them to give back to society. He plans to continue utilizing his skills in Data Science. In the meantime, he seeks to upgrade his skills through self-learning as he prepares to undertake further studies.    

Aime Ishimwe is currently working with AIMS Rwanda Centre as the Junior IT Officer. His honed skills and experience in Data Science are a fantastic addition to the IT Department.