The ongoing military conflict in Ukraine has brought war to Europe for the first time since the end of the Yugoslav Wars in November 2001. These tragic events highlight the fragility of peace closer to home.
Adam Baranowski teaching data science to refugees in Aviemore, Scottish Highlands.
Unfortunately, there are currently 6 ongoing major wars (with 10,000 or more combat-related deaths in current or past year), 14 wars (with at least 1,000 and fewer than 10,000 combat-related deaths in current or past year), and 22 “minor” conflicts (with at least 100 and fewer than 1,000 combat-related deaths in current or past year), thus 42 military conflicts worldwide in total (source).
The war in Ukraine has captured global attention with more than 5 million Ukrainians displaced within their country and an additional 6.3 million displaced across borders as of June 2023. If we look more broadly, as of May 2023, more than 110 million individuals were forcibly displaced worldwide. This marks the largest ever single-year increase in forced displacement in UNHCR’s history, propelled by the war in Ukraine and other deadly conflicts (source).
It is imperative to help these people secure the skills needed to integrate in, and become productive contributing members of, the British society. For this reason, Thalesians Marine Ltd, has partnered with expert data scientists and artificial intelligence experts, Adam Baranowski and Paul Bilokon, respectively, Cambridge- and Oxford-educated, to provide free of charge vocational training to refugees in programming and data processing.
The first in-person lectures were given in 2023Q1 at Coylumbridge Hotel, which is one of the hotels in the Scottish Highlands hosting refugees (source).
The Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Thalesians Marine Ltd, the London-based data science, shipping, and logistics company, who is himself affected by the military conflict in Ukraine, has said the following: “We are not going to stop at free in-person tuition. We want to help more vulnerable people in the United Kingdom, whether they are refugees or not, acquire the skills that will enable them to not only avoid destitution, but to thrive and prosper. I am constantly in touch with Neil Fowler, the CEO of World Business Strategies Limited. Together we offer best-in-class training courses in data science, machine learning, and programming to banking elite, in the UK and worldwide, and now we are also offering free vocational training to vulnerable adults, including refugees, both in-person and remotely. By doing this we help bridge the skills gap and invite more people to participate in the lucrative new opportunities offered by data science, thus increasing cohesion and competitiveness of the United Kingdom, of our society.”