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One of the biggest challenges facing Dunedin statistician John Harraway is helping strengthen the statistics capability of African countries.
Mr Harraway, now in his 60s, is a senior lecturer in the University of Otago mathematics and statistics department. He gained an Otago teaching excellence award in 2010.
At a recent World Statistics Congress in Dublin, Ireland, he was elected president of the International Association for Statistical Education (IASE), an organisation with 400 members in 50 countries.
The body seeks to promote, support and improve statistical education throughout the world.
As IASE president, he also becomes a member of the Council of the International Statistical Institute, the world's largest international statistics body.
The institute and IASE wanted to help developing countries through a collaborative approach, he said.
"After attending meetings in Iceland and Dublin, I have been asked to help with a project aimed at capacity-building in statistics in sub-Saharan Africa."
A pilot project involving new approaches to statistics teaching at Otago Girls' High School, co-ordinated by school mathematics head Jeanette Chapman, could also eventually help boost statistics education in developing countries.
New Zealand was regarded as a world leader in the development of the statistics curriculum in schools.
This country had been trialling the use of free and powerful statistics software, developed by British firm VSN International, which enabled pupils to explore "large and interesting" collections of data.
The work at Otago Girls' High School was helping the software-related initiative of the British firm, which had a policy of aiding developing countries.
The software was also being reviewed for use in several developing countries, and as IASE president he aimed to help with these developments.
Building stronger statistical data and strengthening the ability to interpret statistics were clearly important in developing countries, some of which faced big challenges, including with health-related issues such as HIV, and had limited resources.
Statistics was ultimately about data.
"The data leads to correct decision-making," he said.
Having "stronger" statistics would also help governments establish priorities and cost-effective solutions.
New Zealand was well-regarded internationally and New Zealanders had the skills in statistics to help with this "very important" overseas professional development work, including involving teachers in the tertiary education system.
A country such as Kenya could potentially be used as a hub to help promote professional development work.