LISA 2020: A Vision Toward Research Development in Nigeria

• Activity Number: 291
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Tuesday, August 5, 2014 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
• Sponsor: Statistics Without Borders
• Author(s): Olushina Olawale Awe*+ and Eric Vance
• Companies: Obafemi Awolowo University and LISA-Virginia Tech
• Keywords: Research ; Consulting ; Collaboration ; LISA 2020 ; Statistical Laboratory ; Mentoring

Abstract

The LISA 2020 program of the Department of Statistics, Virginia Tech educates and trains statisticians from developing countries to become statistical collaborators with ability to communicate and collaborate with non-statisticians effectively. Part of its goals is to create a network of 20 statistical collaboration laboratories in developing countries by 2020 through education, training, exchanges of personnel, and on-going mentoring support for the statisticians in the LISA 2020 network.

In this paper, we discuss the challenges and opportunities for the field of statistics as a vehicle for research development in Nigeria. Also, the first LISA Fellow shares his experience at the Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Statistical Analysis (LISA), Virginia Tech and his vision to promote research in Nigeria by creating a statistical collaboration laboratory at Obafemi Awolowo University where the next generation of statistical collaborators in West Africa will be trained to embrace the practical application of statistics and help researchers answer their research questions by finding solutions to real-world societal problems.