Alausa: varsities  must serve as engines of innovation, problem-solving

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“The DATICAN Medical Image Repository, the first of its kind in Nigeria, will serve as a valuable national resource for researchers in medical imaging, artificial intelligence, and digital health,” he said.

Alausa added that the HPC facility would provide the computational capacity required to process large datasets such as MRI and CT scans, enabling researchers and clinicians to develop advanced AI models and improve diagnostic accuracy.

He described the initiative as the foundation of a broader ecosystem for health technology innovation, stressing its importance in building human capacity through the training of medical experts, data scientists, and computer scientists.

The minister emphasised that universities must serve as engines of innovation and problem-solving, adding that initiatives like DATICAN demonstrated how academic institutions could directly contribute to national development.

He urged stakeholders, including researchers, clinicians, policymakers, and industry players, to fully utilise the new facilities to develop solutions that would enhance healthcare delivery across the country.

Alausa also acknowledged the contributions of international partners, including delegates from the University of Chicago, who were in Nigeria to train local professionals in clinical bioethics.

He reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to investing in research infrastructure, interdisciplinary collaboration, and talent development to position Nigeria as a leader in health technology innovation in Africa.

The DATICAN initiative, funded by National Institute of Health (NIH) USA, is designed to strengthen the application of AI and data-driven approaches in improving healthcare outcomes nationwide.

Aribisala said the initiative was aimed at strengthening healthcare delivery and  established to address gaps in data-driven medical research in Nigeria.

Aribisala said the DATICAN, one of its kind,  was designed to build capacity in data science and foster collaboration between medical professionals and computer scientists.

“Data science has become central to decision-making in modern society, including in the health sector”.

“Data science has the capacity to influence everything we do because it helps generate insights from data”.

“Anywhere you see data, that is where data science can be applied,” he said.

He said the health sector required strong data systems to improve service delivery and support the development of artificial intelligence tools.

He, however, noted that the adoption of data science technologies in Nigeria and Africa remained uneven compared to developed countries.

According to him, one major challenge is the shortage of skilled manpower capable of applying data science in the medical domain.

“To apply data science technology in medicine, you need medical professionals who are interested in technology, artificial intelligence and data science.

“Also computer scientists who are interested in medical use cases. That collaboration is still limited,” he said.

He added that another challenge was lack of multidisciplinary research collaboration, noting that professionals in medicine and computing often worked separately rather than jointly.

Aribisala also identified limited access to relevant data as a major constraint, particularly the absence of a national repository of medical images of Nigerians living in the country.

He said the DATICAN would address these challenges by building capacity in data science and medical image analysis to generate insights that could improve healthcare delivery.

He said the initiative had also developed a medical data repository, which would be demonstrated during the event.

He said the programme included  outreach efforts to secondary school students and undergraduates.