About Us

About Syria Data Science Syria Data Science, a grassroots initiative launched in early 2025, is a vibrant community connecting and empowering Syrian data professionals and enthusiasts.it addresses a strong need for structured learning, mentorship, and professional exposure in data. Through meetups and workshops, the initiative aims to cultivate a new generation of data-literate professionals to drive innovation.

Why join us

Join Syria Data Science to connect with a growing community focused on practical data skills, shared learning, and real-world impact. Together, we learn, collaborate, and build using data that matters.

Our Mission

Build practical data capacity, enable collaboration and knowledge sharing, and create pathways to opportunities and impact.

Our Vision

To build a strong, connected data community that uses data responsibly to inform decisions and create positive, long-term impact in Syria.

Our Story

For years, data in Syria was not just underused; it was avoided. During the Assad era, working with data, sharing it, or even discussing it openly felt risky, foreign, and disconnected from everyday reality. Decisions were made without evidence, systems operated without measurement, and people interested in data often worked in isolation, if they worked at all. Syria Data Science started as a quiet counter-movement to that reality. In early 2025, two people with similar frustrations and similar curiosity decided to do something simple: find others like them. No institution. No funding. Just a personal initiative on social media to meet people who cared about data, analysis, and problem-solving. The goal was not scale. It was connection.
What followed was unexpected. Within days, hundreds of Syrians from inside the country and across the diaspora reached out. Analysts, students, engineers, researchers—many of them working alone for years suddenly found a place where their interests made sense. More than 500 membership requests came in, each one a signal that this need had been waiting, unspoken. The initiative evolved into a living network: professionals sharing knowledge, exchanging tools, debating methods, and tackling real problems together. Not data for data’s sake, but data as a way to understand reality, challenge assumptions, and design better responses in a fragile context. Today, Syria Data Science is a growing community rooted in a simple belief: progress starts when people come together around evidence, not ideology; around learning, not hierarchy. It is a collective effort to normalize data thinking in Syria, rebuild trust in facts, and empower a new generation to solve problems with clarity, rigor, and shared purpose.

Our Principles & Values

Practical over hype

We focus on skills and knowledge that can be applied to real problems.

Context-aware learning

We ground data learning and discussion in the Syrian and regional context, respecting local challenges and realities.

Ethical and responsible use of data

We promote responsible data practices that respect privacy, fairness, and the potential impact of data on people and communities.

Open knowledge and community contribution

We promote responsible data practices that respect privacy, fairness, and the potential impact of data on people and communities.

Syria Data Science is:

A community and knowledge hub

Syria Data Science is Not:

A paid bootcamp, certificate platform, or AI only space

Meet the team

Syria Datra Science heroes

Wilson O'Connell

Founder, CEO

Clark Streich

Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Shannon Tillman

Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)

Extended Team

A group of volunteers and contributors supporting content, community building, events, and projects—working together to grow an open and inclusive data community.