HCDS at the Long Night of the Consulates – Visit to the Ethiopian Honorary Consulate in Hamburg

5 May 2025, by Chris Biemann

Photo: Seid Muhie Yimam & Janis-Marie Paul

left to right: Abinew Ali Ayele, Dr. Seid Muhie Yimam, Heinrich G. Köhler (Honorary Consul), Prof. Dr. Adem Chanie Ali & Dr. Martin Semmann

a small delegation from the Hub of Computing and Data Science (HCDS) - Dr. Martin Semmann and Dr. Seid Muhie Yimam and Prof. Dr. Adem Chanie Ali  – took part in the Long Night of the Consulates, visiting the Ethiopian Honorary Consulate in Hamburg, hosted by Honorary Consul Heinrich G. Köhler. 

The evening brought together representatives of the Ethiopian diaspora in Hamburg as well as with other representatives from academia, urban society and religions, including Dr. Getie Gelaye (Amharic Lecturer, Asia Africa Institute) and Prof. Dr. Tetzlaff (former professor of political science). Guests of honor included Staatsrat Dr. Alexander von Vogel and his chief of protocol from the Behörde für Wissenschaft, Forschung, Gleichstellung und Bezirke. 

Beyond cultural presentations, Ethiopian beer, and the film “Highlights of Ethiopia”, the exchange with the Honorary Consul focused on promoting AI and Data Science education – particularly through the HCDS-organized Summer School for Women in Ethiopia and the EthioNLP Initiative. 

The Summer School, held in Addis from April 29 to May 12 in 2024, was funded through the Google exploreCSR program and aimed to support young women in gaining access to future-defining technologies. 

EthioNLP is dedicated to empowering Ethiopian languages through AI and NLP, ensuring that they are not left behind in the digital age. The initiative fosters innovation, knowledge-sharing, and collaboration while mentoring the next generation of NLP researchers. 

Those initiatives contribute to increasing diversity, inclusion, and international collaboration in the fields of Artificial Intelligence and Data Science.