ABSTRACT
Essential skills required for both statistical consulting and collaboration are mostly informal and are rarely taught in the training institutions in developing countries. These critical skills constitute a significant missing gap and a major hindrance to the growth and development of capacity in statistics and data science practice in developing countries. The advent of LISA 2020 initiative is bridging this gap with a fast-growing network of “stat labs” spread across higher education institutions in Africa, India, Brazil and other parts of the world. This chapter will highlight how LISA 2020 Stat Labs (and other potential labs outside LISA 2020) engage in building capacity to improve informal statistical skills through training and collaborations. In addition, the chapter will review the activities and programs of the stat labs and the contributions being made to bring data science to bear on real-world problems. The chapter plans to draw out lessons that are unique and common to the different stat labs in the network.
