Commentary - Setting up data science research in Africa and engagement of stakeholders

Significance:Data science explores the use of big data to gain deeper insights and generate new knowledge and innovations which can lead to economic growth and sustainable development. However, setting up data science research comes with challenges. How we engage stakeholders is a major factor that determines success. This Commentary highlights important considerations for stakeholder engagement based on the experiences of investigators in a data science for health discovery project underway in Nigeria and South Africa. The perspectives presented will guide implementation in this relatively new but rapidly growing research domain.