WiDS Conference 2024 – Women in Data Science Belgium

Speakers

Welcome & opening remarks

Setareh Tasdighian

Founder and President, Women in Data Science Belgium

Christine Durinx

Managing Director,
VIB

Keynotes

Jenny Ambukiyenyi Onya

Managing Partner and Head of AI Products & Operations,
Neotex.ai and Fit-For-Purpose Technologies

Malvina Nissim, Ph.D.

Professor of Computational Linguistics and Society, University of Groningen

Lotte van den Berg

Manager Trustworthy AI,
Deloitte Belgium

Short Talks

Lissa Melis, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor Operations Research,
Maastricht University

Phuong Le, Ph.D.

Lecturer and Researcher,
The School of Industrial Biology

Lyse Naomi Wamba

PhD Researcher,
KU Leuven

Mentorship sessions

We offer engaging mentorship sessions by top voices in the data science field:

Breaking Barriers: Empowering Women in Data Science by Jessica Bulthé
Catalyzing Innovation: Navigating Academia’s Knowledge Transfer and Spin-off Opportunities by Julia Gauglitz
Learning to Learn: How to Keep Growing Your Skills Sustainably by Vanessa Rivera Quinones

lightning talks

The use of (Generative) AI in journalism: AI-Driven headline generation at Mediahuis by Lisa Schetgen
EXplainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) by Saja tawalbeh
Developing user-focused BI dashboards for business adoption by Sophie De Waele
Variational AutoEncoder for synthetic insurance data by Charlotte Jamotton
Using Pseudonymised data in ML projects by Leila Rebbouh
Deep learning-powered deciphering of gene regulatory dynamics by Darina Abbaffyova
To QA or not to QA, the Test Engineer’s Crisis by Helena Parruitte
Building a Career Path for Women in AI and Data by Vanessa Rivera Quinones

Program

8:30-9:30	Welcome and registration
9:30-9:45	Introduction to WiDS by Setareh Tasdighian
9:45-10:00	Opening talk by Christine Durinx
10:00-10:45	Keynote: “Revolutionizing Agri-Fintech with Halisi: Harnessing the Power of Human and Animal Facial Recognition” by Jenny Ambukiyenyi Onya
10:45-11:15	*Coffee break*
_____________	Short talks (15 min + 5 min Q&A)
11:15-11:35	Disagreement among counterfactual explanations: How transparency can be misleading by Lissa Melis
11:35-11:55	Application of Machine Learning in higher education by Phuong Le
11:55-12:15	Translating AI to the clinic by focusing on Explainability and Data privacy by Lyse Naomi Wamba
12:15-13:45	*Lunch break & mentorship sessions*
13:45-14:30	Keynote: “Women and Language Technology” by Malvina Nissim
14:30-15:30	Session of lightning talks
15:30-16:15	*Coffee break and Poster session*
16:15-17:00	Keynote: “Responsible AI in practice” by Lotte van den Berg
17:00-17:15	Closing word
17:15-18:30	Networking reception

Organizing Committee 2024

(Click on our names to read our bio!)

Venue

VIB-UGent
Technologiepark-Zwijnaarde 71
9052 Zwijnaarde

How to get there?

The venue is located around 4 km from Gent-Sint-Pieters train station, and from there you can either come by bus or tram.

By bus (recommended):
There is a bus stop right in front of the venue. Take the 70 or 50 bus from Gent-Sint-Pieters station platform 6 or 7. You can plan your route here.

By tram:
If you take line T3, the Zwijnaarde Klaartestraat stop is about a 10-minute walk from the venue.

By car:
If you travel by car, you can park your car in front of the building on the parking lot. If this parking is full, you need to park at the parking tower. Using other parking lots or parking on the shoulder is not allowed. Please ask the organizers for an exit ticket upfront. To use the exit ticket, first enter your entrance ticket and then the exit ticket.