ARIJ believes in the value of promoting data journalism in the Arab world; therefore, the network partnered with the International Center for Investigative Journalists (ICFJ) in 2020 and launched an advanced diploma program in data journalism. The diploma lasted six months. Nineteen journalists from various Arab countries were trained on all the stages of working on a data-based investigation, starting with concepts and principles of data journalism. The topics also covered data sources and how to collect, edit, clean, analyze and visualize data in addition to training on writing stories.
The great success of the diploma program in the first edition prompted ARIJ to repeat the experience and to offer a second edition in 2021: Sixteen Arab journalists received training on data journalism for a period of six months as well. The graduation of both cohorts marked the launch of data journalism pioneers into the Arab world.
