Advancement of Science and Technology

This proceeding presents the papers from the 11th International Conference on Advancement of Science and Technology (ICAST 2023), which took place in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, in November 2023. The papers present economic and technologic developments in modern societies related to important issues such digitization, energy transformation, impact on national economy, and its recent advancements. The papers are relevant to researchers, academics, and professionals.

Abeba Birhane is a cognitive scientist who works at the intersection of complex adaptive systems, machine learning, algorithmic bias, and critical race studies. Birhane's work with Vinay Prabhu uncovered that large-scale image datasets commonly used to develop AI systems, including ImageNet and 80 Million Tiny Images, carried racist and misogynistic labels and offensive images. She has been recognized by VentureBeat as a top innovator in computer vision. Birhane was born in Ethiopia. She received her Bachelors of Science in Psychology and a Bachelors of Arts in Philosophy from The Open University. In 2015, she completed her Master of Science in Cognitive Science and, in 2021, her Ph.D. at the Complex Software Lab in the School of Computer Science at University College Dublin. Birhane studied the impacts of emerging AI technologies and how they shape individuals and local communities. She found that AI algorithms tend to disproportionately impact vulnerable groups such as older workers,trans people, immigrants, and children. Her research on relational ethics won the best paper award at NeurIPS’s Black in AI workshop in 2019. She has also studied and written about algorithmic colonization. Her work in decolonizing computational sciences addressed the inherited oppressions in current systems especially towards women of color.

Fekadu Shewarega (Member, IEEE) received the Dipl.-Ing. degree in electrical engineering and the Ph.D. degree in power engineering from the Technical University of Dresden, Dresden, Germany, in 1985 and 1988, respectively. After graduation, he joined the Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia as an Associate Professor, where he served in various teaching and administrative capacities. Currently, he is a member of the research staff at the University Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany. His research interests are focused on power system analysis and renewable energy technologies

Mekuanint Agegnehu Bitew received the bachelor’s degree from Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia, in 2005, the master’s degree from Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2007, and the Ph.D. degree from the College of Electrical and Computer Science, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan, in 2016. He has been a Postdoctoral Researcher for two years with the National Taipei University of Technology. Since 2022, he has been an Associate Professor with the Faculty of Computing, Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. His research interests include WSNs, ad-hoc networks, wireless communication, optical networks, and AI.

Mekonnen Wagaw received the bachelor’s degree from Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2005, the Master’s degree from Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2010, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of South Africa in Information Systems, 2020. Since then, he has been an Assistant Professor with the Faculty of Computing, Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. 

Ahunim Abebe Ashetehe received a bachelor's degree in electrical/electronics technology and an M.Sc. degree in electrical power system engineering from Adama Science and Technology University in 2005 and 2009, respectively, and a PhD degree in electrical power engineering from Bahir Dar University in 2024. He worked at Debre Berhan University from 2006 to 2012, engaging in teaching-learning, community service, and administrative activities. He has been a lecturer at the Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, Bahir Dar University, since August 2012. Currently, he is an assistant professor at Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia. His research interests include renewable energy technologies, rural electrification, microgrid and smart grid technologies, power system optimization, and energy management.