Mena Digital Summer School

Educational Project
| May 2022 – till date

The MENA Digital Summer School is a hybrid seminar on digital transformation targeting aspiring innovators from the MENA region in the field of digital transformation. Having taken place annually since 2022, the summer school included basic modules on data management, machine learning, strategic planning as well as tackling concrete issues of digitization in the MENA region. It also encompasses socio-political aspects and scenarios of digital transformation in the MENA region. Part of the curriculum are collaborative workshops and field visits to digital leaders from the spheres of economy, academia, and media in Germany. The aim of the School is to foster leadership qualities among young professionals and to address digital transformation as a common challenge for societies in Europe and the MENA region.

The MENA Digital Summer School is organized by the Candid Foundation, and has been supported by a wide range of partners such as the Chancellery of the State of North-Rhine Westphalia, the Friedrich-Naumann Foundation, Digital Arabia Network, Einstein Centre Digital Future, the Centre for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS), BMW-Foundation, Atingi/GIZ, Divan – Arabisches Kulturhaus, and Fernuniversität Hagen. The first phase of the MENA DS project was funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.