Abdigani Diriye (born 1986
) is a
Somali computer scientist and research scientist at IBM Research – Africa,
working in the fields of
human-computer interaction (HCI),
data mining and
financial technology (FinTech). Diriye was named a TEDGlobal 2017 fellow, an
MIT Technology Review 'Innovator Under 35',
and a 'Next Einstein Forum' fellow.
Education
Abdigani Diriye was schooled in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, moving from Somalia at age 5 due to civil unrest.
Diriye received a Bachelor's degree in
Computer science and
Mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
from
Queen Mary University of London. Continuing onto the postgraduate level, Diriye earned a Master's in Advanced Computing from
King's College London
King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...
, a PhD in Computer Science at
University College London in 2012 and an
MBA from
INSEAD in 2022.
Research and career
Under the guidance of Prof. Ann Blandford and Dr. Anastasios Tombros, Diriye conducted his PhD research on understanding the role searching interfaces play in the process of information seeking.
Diriye, during his PhD, undertook internships with
Microsoft Research
Microsoft Research (MSR) is the research subsidiary of Microsoft. It was created in 1991 by Richard Rashid, Bill Gates and Nathan Myhrvold with the intent to advance state-of-the-art computing and solve difficult world problems through technologi ...
(June 2010 - October 2011) and Fuji-Xerox Palo Alto labs (June 2011).
Following his PhD, Diriye worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...
. This position, working with Dr. Aniket Kittur led Diriye to develop new approaches that combine human and machine-generated data that helps people find and understand information on the internet more effectively.
Currently Diriye is a research scientist and manager at IBM Research Africa and steers Innovate Ventures: a startup technology fund in Somalia, having founded it in 2012.
With Innovate Ventures, Diriye has partnered with
Oxfam
Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International.
History
Founded at 17 Broad Street, Oxford, as the Oxford Co ...
, VC4Africa, and
Telesom
Telesom is a private telecommunication company established in 2002 by local entrepreneurs in Hargeisa, Somaliland. It is the leading provider of ICT services in the country and offers a wide range of products including voice and mobile broadband ...
. Diriye, through Innovate Ventures, has funded over $17,500 towards startups in Africa.
With IBM, Diriye and his team develop and deploy new approaches to securely mine, model and score individuals who are applying for financial loans. In 2016, Diriye and his team developed a machine learning approach that leverages new data sources to evaluate financial profiles and credit scores of hundreds of millions of Africans.
Over his career, Diriye has published over 35 patents and papers.
Awards
* TEDGlobal 2017
* Next Einstein Fellow (NEF) 2017-2019
* MIT Technology Review 'TR35' 2017
* Quartz Africa Innovators 2018
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diriye, Abdigani
1986 births
Living people
Alumni of King's College London
Alumni of Queen Mary University of London
Alumni of University College London
Computer scientists
Somalian scientists