Insight-Full Talks: Smart, Sustainable Cloud strategies for researchers
Smart, Sustainable Cloud for Research
Date: September 4, 2025
Speakers:
Nigel Thuku - Data Scientist, AKU Data Innovation Officer
Allan Zablon - Data Engineer, AKU Data Innovation Officer
Thembi Kiiru - Product Marketer, AKU Data Innovation Officer
Description:
How can research teams in low- and middle-income countries use the cloud without breaking their budgets or the planet?
In this session, we introduce SCORE, the Sustainable Cloud Operations for Research guidelines — a practical decision model designed for research groups working with limited budgets, variable internet access, and growing sustainability demands.
You’ll see how the right architecture choices can slash costs by over 99%, speed up processing, and cut carbon emissions dramatically, based on a real-world test with the NIH Chest X-ray dataset.
Whether you’re managing a large-scale data pipeline or just starting with cloud services, this talk will give you actionable strategies to make your research cloud operations smarter, greener, and more cost-effective.
Key Takeaways:
How to assess cloud needs for constrained environments.
Choosing between no-code, serverless, and code-based approaches.
Reducing storage and processing emissions in research pipelines.
Common pricing pitfalls — and how to avoid them.
Register Now: https://aku-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/kIG3Gyn9T12nNPg_mcM7ZQ
About Insight-Full Talk Series
The AKU Insight-Full Talk Series is a monthly research talk platform hosted by the Aga Khan University Data Innovation Office.
We bring together researchers, innovators, and change-makers from across the globe to share new knowledge, challenge ideas, and inspire action, with a focus on data-driven solutions in low- and middle-income country (LMIC) contexts. From groundbreaking health research to climate resilience, gender equity, and sustainable technology, our talks are designed to spark dialogue, connect disciplines, and move ideas from research to life. Join us every month to learn, connect, and be inspired.
Do you want to be a speaker, register here; https://forms.gle/Qf81upqgcJqzGiUcA