Alcardo Alex Barakabitze

Biography

Dr Alcardo Alex Barakabitze (IEEE, ACM) completed his PhD in Computer Science at the University of Plymouth, UK, in March 2020. He is currently working in the Department of Informatics and Information Technology at Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA). Dr Barakabitze is actively involved in teaching, conducting research, and offering consultancy services in the fields of AI/ML, digital teaching and learning, health informatics, digital and data-driven food and agriculture systems, telecommunication systems, and ICT4D.

Dr Barakabitze has been recognised as Tanzania’s Best Male ICT Researcher of 2021, awarded by the ICT Commission of Tanzania. He is also recognised as the Best Young Researcher of the Year 2021 at SUA, awarded by the SUA Research and Innovation Committee. Additionally, he was recognised as the Outstanding International Graduate Student of Chongqing University, China (2015), for his research excellence.

Dr Barakabitze has led or participated in national and international research projects funded by external donors and the Government of Tanzania, including (a) EEISHEA Project - https://eeishea.org, (b) AI4MORECROPS – www.ai4morecrops.co.tz/wp, (c) YEESI LAB - www.yeesi.org, (d) SmartTB - https://smarttb.co.tz/ among others.

Beyond his research, Dr Barakabitze has played a pivotal role in shaping Tanzania’s digital education landscape. He was instrumental in developing the National Digital Education Strategy 2024/25–2029/30, the National Digital Skills Development Framework, and other EdTech national guidelines aimed at transforming education through the integration of digital technologies and ensuring quality learning experiences across the country. He has also contributed to the preparation of other policy documents for the Tanzania ICT Commission, including the National Digital Skills Development Framework and the Artificial Intelligence Framework for Teaching and Learning in Higher Learning Institutions for the Inter-University Council for East Africa.

He was a visiting researcher in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Cagliari, Italy, in September 2016, and later at the ITU T-Standardisation Department in 2017, Geneva, Switzerland. Dr Barakabitze has served as a discussant and examiner for PhD concept notes, proposals, and theses presented by PhD candidates at SUA and other universities, including University College Dublin (UCD), the University of Aberdeen, UK, and others.

He served as session chair for Future Internet and NGN Architectures during the IEEE Communication Conference in Kansas City, USA, 2018, and was also a keynote and panel chair at the International Young Researcher Summit on Quality of Experience in Emerging Multimedia Services (QEEMS 2017), held in Erfurt, Germany. Dr Barakabitze is a reviewer for various journals and serves on the technical programme committees of leading conferences focusing on his research areas of interest.

Dr Barakabitze has more than 70 publications in international peer-reviewed conferences and journals, with a total of 2,153 citations (as of 4th April 2025) and an H-index of 20. His research interests include digital teaching and learning, artificial intelligence, machine learning, digital and data-driven agriculture and food systems, ICT4D, telecommunication systems, and future 6G and 2030 networks.