This session brought together representatives from ITU, UNICEF, UNESCO, governments, and the private sector to discuss the dual challenge of connecting schools to the internet and ensuring that connectivity translates into meaningful digital education . The session was framed around two complementary initiatives: the GIGA initiative, which aims to connect every school to the internet, and the Gateways Initiative, which focuses on building public digital learning platforms . With 2.2 billion people still unconnected, including roughly 500 million children, and AI rapidly entering classrooms, participants stressed the urgency of designing systems that are governed and aligned with public education objectives .
Country representatives from Kenya, Mozambique, Cambodia, and South Africa shared practical lessons from their national experiences. Kenya emphasised that connectivity must be treated as national digital infrastructure, embedded within broader broadband investments, and that sustainability beyond donor support is critical . Mozambique highlighted how its partnership with GIGA transformed its approach from simply providing internet to mapping schools, integrating power solutions, and incorporating child online protection . Cambodia and South Africa both noted that COVID-19 accelerated the need for digital learning platforms, and that a whole-of-government approach, including presidential-level coordination, was essential to achieving coherence across ministries .
From the private sector, Vodacom's Ayman Essam argued that enabling a fair regulatory environment for investors is a prerequisite for sustainable connectivity, and cautioned that the broader ecosystem - including home connectivity, devices, and family economic stability - must be considered alongside school-level infrastructure . He also raised concerns about AI's lack of cultural sensitivity towards African languages and contexts . These concerns were echoed by audience members and panellists alike, with South Africa and Cambodia both noting efforts to develop indigenous-language large language models .
On the platform side, UNICEF's Frank van Cappelle explained that public digital learning platforms are a relatively new concept that emerged during COVID and are now reaching tens of millions of children globally, with the Gateways Initiative network expanding to 35 member countries . ITU's Hani Eskandar introduced the concept of digital public infrastructure for education, comprising curriculum-mapped content repositories, interoperable education data systems, and verifiable credentials, arguing that this approach can improve learning outcomes even without tablets in every classroom .
Closing remarks from the Spains Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Office in Geneva, Clara Cabrera Brasero and UNESCO's Sobhi Tawil underscored the complementarity between GIGA and Gateways Initiative as an example of the UN working as one, and noted that the session's outputs would feed into the Transforming Education Summit+4 (TES+4) in Paris, marking a significant moment for shaping the future of AI and education in the post-2030 development agenda .
Overall Purpose
- The session brought together ITU, UNICEF, and UNESCO, alongside government representatives and private-sector actors. Its goal was to examine how school connectivity (the GIGA Initiative) and public digital learning platforms (the Gateways Initiative) must work in tandem to deliver meaningful, inclusive, and sustainable digital education for all children - particularly those in underserved and developing contexts. The session also served as a preparatory input for the UNESCO Transforming Education Summit+4 (TES+4) in Paris.
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Major Discussion Points
- School connectivity as a necessary but insufficient first step. Multiple speakers emphasised that connecting schools to the internet is only the beginning of a much larger challenge. Kenya's representative outlined five key lessons, stressing that connectivity must be treated as national digital infrastructure integrated into broader broadband investments, and that infrastructure alone cannot deliver impact without reliable electricity, affordable devices, digital content, and teacher capacity-building. Mozambique's experience illustrated how the GIGA partnership transformed their approach from simply deploying satellite internet to mapping schools, adopting technology-neutral solutions, integrating power systems, and embedding child online protection. - The need for sustainable, whole-of-government ecosystems beyond donor support. A recurring theme was the risk that projects would collapse once external funding ended. Kenya warned explicitly that 'we are seeing projects that are dying once the support goes.' South Africa described how fragmented ministerial ICT budgets and a lack of shared vision had previously undermined digital education efforts, and how a presidential Digital Services Unit and a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) roadmap helped align ministries, secure cabinet-level funding, and create long-term sustainability. Vodacom's representative argued that governments must create fair, equitable regulatory environments that allow private operators to achieve economic returns, without which investment in connectivity cannot be sustained. - Public digital learning platforms as digital public infrastructure for education. The Gateways Initiative was presented as the complementary "yang" to GIGA's connectivity "yin," focused on ensuring that once schools are connected, they have access to high-quality, publicly governed digital learning platforms. ITU's Hani Eskandar introduced the concept of 'GIGA Plus', a digital public infrastructure layer comprising curriculum-mapped content repositories accessible via APIs, interoperable education data systems, and verifiable educational credentials. He argued that this approach could improve learning outcomes even without tablets in every classroom, by targeting teachers with curated, official content. Cambodia shared how it chose open-source platforms for cost reasons and piloted intensively in a single school before scaling, recognising the learning management system as a critical vehicle for rapid knowledge transfer. - Cultural sensitivity, AI, and the risk of Western-centric digital tools. Vodacom's Ayman Essam highlighted that AI tools currently return culturally and linguistically insensitive answers to African students, as large language models are predominantly trained on Western, English-language data. This concern was echoed in audience questions and in responses from South Africa and Cambodia, both of which described efforts to develop indigenous-language large language models to preserve cultural sovereignty and avoid dependence on foreign AI tools. Eskandar also raised the broader ecosystem challenge - that a child given a tablet in school but without connectivity, devices, or even food security at home cannot benefit from digital education - pointing to Vodafone Egypt's model of empowering mothers as a community-level solution. - Inter-agency and multistakeholder collaboration as a model for the UN system. Switzerland's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN Offices in Geneva, Gürber praised GIGA as an exemplary interagency initiative between ITU and UNICEF, noting that this kind of cooperation that involves governments, regulators, development partners, and the private sector - is 'not always easy, but it is exactly what is needed.' UNESCO's Sobhi Tawil closed the session by highlighting the complementarity between GIGA and Gateways Initiative, and between the three UN agencies, as an example of the UN "working as one." Amb. Cabrera Brasero called for this model to be upscaled and translated into the broader multilateral system, framing digital education as part of a new social contract. ---
Overall Tone
- The overall tone of the discussion was constructive, collaborative, and solutions-oriented, with a strong undercurrent of urgency. The opening remarks were formal and celebratory, acknowledging the partnership between UN agencies and the progress made since 2019. As the panel moved into country experiences, the tone became candid and practical - Kenya and Mozambique offered frank assessments of what had not worked before GIGA and what remained unresolved. Vodacom's representative challenged the room to think beyond school buildings to the full socioeconomic ecosystem of a child's life. This was well-received and generated lively audience engagement. The closing segment returned to a more reflective and forward-looking tone, with UNESCO's synthesis framing the session's outputs as a contribution to the post-2030 global development agenda and the upcoming Transforming Education Summit.
Connected and Coherent: The Yin and Yang of Digital Education - WSIS Session Expanded Summary
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Session Overview and Framing
The WSIS session titled "Connected and Coherent: The Yin and Yang of Digital Education" brought together representatives from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), UNICEF, and UNESCO alongside government officials and private sector actors to examine the dual challenge of connecting schools to the internet and ensuring that connectivity translates into meaningful, inclusive, and sustainable digital education . The session was convened at a moment of considerable urgency: with 2.2 billion people still unconnected globally, including roughly 500 million children and young people, and with artificial intelligence rapidly entering classrooms, participants stressed the need to design systems that are governed and aligned with public education objectives . The session also served as a preparatory input for the UNESCO Transforming Education Summit Plus Four, scheduled for Paris two days later, making its outputs directly relevant to the broader global development agenda .
Alex Wong, Senior Adviser in the Office of the ITU Secretary General, opened the session by introducing the yin and yang metaphor as a way of capturing the complementarity between two distinct but interdependent initiatives . The "yin," he explained, is the GIGA initiative - a partnership between ITU and UNICEF launched in 2019 with the mission of connecting every school to the internet, now encompassing 54 countries . The "yang" is the Gateways Initiative and its associated Charter for Digital Public Learning, a collaboration between ITU, UNESCO, and UNICEF focused on ensuring that once schools are connected, they have access to high-quality, publicly governed digital learning platforms . Wong noted that together these initiatives touch on multiple WSIS action lines, including infrastructure and communications infrastructure (C2), ICT applications and e-learning (C7), and international and regional cooperation (C11) .
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Switzerland's Endorsement and the Case for Multi-Stakeholder Cooperation
Ambassador Thomas Gürber, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations in Geneva, provided an opening endorsement of the GIGA initiative, describing Switzerland as a supporter since its early days . He framed GIGA's value in terms of its response to a concrete problem: for many children, the lack of meaningful connectivity means fewer learning opportunities, fewer digital skills, and a wider gap with those who already benefit from the digital world . He praised GIGA's methodology - mapping gaps, structuring investments, and bringing together technical, regulatory, and financial expertise - as well as its interagency character, noting that each of ITU and UNICEF brings distinct strengths while also working with governments, regulators, development partners, and the private sector .
Crucially, Ambassador Gürber introduced a theme that would recur throughout the session: that connecting schools is necessary but not sufficient. He stated plainly that connectivity is "necessary, the first step in a series of steps which we need to keep tracking," and that once connectivity is in place, countries also need digital education systems that work not only in theory but in practice, with platforms, content, and services that fit together and that teachers and pupils can actually use . He expressed hope that the session would help identify what countries need, what partners can offer, and how school connectivity and digital education systems can reinforce each other in a sustainable, long-term manner .
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Panel One: The Yin - School Connectivity in Practice
The first mini-panel, moderated by Ivan Monforte Fugarolas, Coordinator of the GIGA Centre in Barcelona, focused on the connectivity dimension . Before the panel began, a short video outlined GIGA's step-by-step methodology: starting with school mapping ("you can't connect a school you can't see"), moving through connectivity planning, blended finance, transparent procurement, and capacity building . Monforte Fugarolas framed the challenge as four simultaneous problems that must be solved together: enabling regulatory environments, government planning capacity at scale, sustainable private operator models, and the mobilisation of capital beyond public budgets .
Kenya's Five Lessons. Mary Kerema, Secretary of ICT, Digital Economy and Emerging Technology from Kenya's Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy, offered the most comprehensive practitioner account of the session. She outlined five key lessons from Kenya's experience of scaling school connectivity . First, connectivity must be treated as national digital infrastructure, integrated into broader broadband and universal access investments rather than approached as an isolated school project . Second, infrastructure alone is not enough: a connected school also requires reliable electricity, affordable devices, a secure network, digital learning content, and teachers who have been capacity-built to use technology with confidence - noting that teachers are "shying off from technology" because they have not been adequately equipped . Third, partnerships and collaborations across government, the private sector, development partners, local communities, and international organisations are essential for shared investment and accountability, since "government cannot go at it alone" . Fourth, open and interoperable systems are critical to avoid vendor lock-in, which makes sustainability, growth, and scaling problematic . Fifth, and most emphatically, sustainability beyond donor support is the greatest challenge: "we are seeing projects that are dying once the support goes," and this is unacceptable when the goal is to build the future of children .
Kerema also offered practical advice for countries seeking to implement initiatives such as GIGA: start with accurate data and proper school surveys; adopt a whole-of-government approach bringing all relevant ministries to the table; leverage what has already been done rather than reinventing the wheel; prioritise inclusion so that connectivity does not produce new forms of exclusion; and measure impact not by the number of schools connected but by the number of lives transformed, including job creation and educational performance . She concluded by arguing that GIGA, properly understood, is about opportunities - combining infrastructure, policy, innovation, and strong partnerships to ensure that every learner, regardless of geographical or socioeconomic background, has access to quality digital education .
Mozambique's Before-and-After Account. Socrates Titoce, representing the Mozambique Universal Service Access Fund, provided a vivid before-and-after account of how GIGA transformed his country's approach to school connectivity . Before GIGA, Mozambique had connected 310 schools but with a purely connectivity-focused, technology-prescriptive approach: all schools were connected via LEO satellite systems, there was no school mapping, and no consideration of child protection, power solutions, or broader digital ecosystem needs . After the GIGA and World Bank partnership, the methodology changed fundamentally: schools were mapped, technology neutrality was adopted so that the best connectivity solution could be selected for each school's specific conditions, child online protection was integrated, and power solutions were incorporated because many Mozambican schools lack electricity . Mozambique is now committed to expanding connectivity to 10,000 schools by 2029 under the presidential initiative "Mozambique for All," with the Universal Service Fund evolving from a project-based approach into an ongoing obligation to sustain school connectivity after external funding ends .
Vodacom's Market Perspective and the Ecosystem Challenge. Ayman Essam, Chief External Affairs Officer of Vodacom Group, offered the most politically direct and conceptually wide-ranging contribution of the first panel. He began by acknowledging that connectivity is the first enabler of digital education, but argued that it is "underlined by the economic desire of players to do connectivity" - operators cannot be expected to invest billions without a viable economic return . He argued that regulators must enable not only licences, spectrum, towers, and fibre infrastructure, but also a fair, equitable marketplace with level-playing-field competition to drive economic value for investors . In a notably direct passage - Essam described himself as someone who has "always been told that I'm politically incorrect" - he stated that governments simultaneously want to please voters, attract investment, and extract maximum tax revenues from operators, and then "wonder why countries are not developing" - a structural contradiction that, in his view, is not being honestly addressed .
Essam then extended the analysis beyond the school building to the full household ecosystem. He described the situation of a child given a tablet by GIGA in school who must leave it behind when going home, who has no connectivity at home, and whose caregiver might sell the device to buy food - arguing that "we think about education in terms of just a building, school, people sitting in the school, lovely kids, great picture, holding tablets. But then in reality, this tablet needs to go home with them" . He referenced Maslow's hierarchy of needs to argue that food security must precede education, and that the digital education ecosystem must encompass home connectivity, take-home devices, parental digital enablement, and household economic stability . Drawing on Vodafone Egypt's experience, he described how enabling mothers with digital skills, devices, and connectivity had a multiplier effect on the entire family's educational and economic outcomes, backed by survey data rather than opinion .
Essam also raised the issue of AI's cultural insensitivity, describing how a Kenyan student using major AI platforms would receive "a Western-based, language-translated answer that is culturally insensitive to the Kenyan culture" - a finding he had personally tested . He noted that Vodacom and the GSMA are working on African language inclusion in large language models, and described Vodafone Group Foundation's "school in a box" and "network in a box" solutions for underserved contexts, including refugee camps .
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Panel Two: The Yang - Public Digital Learning Platforms and Digital Public Infrastructure
The second mini-panel, moderated by Mark West, a UNESCO representative, shifted focus to the Gateways Initiative and the question of how connectivity can be leveraged for meaningful digital education .
The Gateways Initiative: A Community of Practice. Frank van Cappelle, UNICEF's lead for the Gateways Initiative, explained that public digital learning platforms are a relatively new and emerging concept that gained prominence during COVID-19, when many governments put educational content online, only for many of those platforms to disappear after the pandemic . The Gateways Initiative encourages governments to invest in, govern, and build public digital learning platforms, and has developed the first normative guidance and principles around what makes an effective, inclusive, and high-quality platform . With 35 member countries and approximately 50 countries having benefited from the network, Gateways functions as a community of practice where countries learn from each other in a rapidly changing landscape .
Van Cappelle emphasised that public digital learning platforms can serve diverse audiences beyond enrolled students, including out-of-school children, children in emergencies, children with disabilities, and linguistic minorities . He cited Indonesia's example of building a platform targeted at teachers accessible through their smartphones, even in schools without learner devices, specifically designed to address the pain points of remote teachers lacking professional development opportunities . He concluded by echoing Kerema's earlier point: "the end goal is not to build these platforms. The end goal is to have impact for children," including through remedial education, accelerated learning, and providing lifelines for children unable to physically access school .
ITU's Technical Architecture: GIGA Plus and Digital Public Infrastructure. Hani Eskandar, GIGA Senior Project Manager at ITU, introduced what he described as "GIGA Plus" - a digital public infrastructure layer for education that goes beyond connectivity . He began by challenging a widespread assumption: that the next step after connecting a school is to equip students with tablets and put Wi-Fi in every classroom. He argued this is extremely expensive, not feasible for many countries in the near future, and may not even be pedagogically optimal, citing recent studies suggesting that "maybe we should roll back a little bit on introducing too much technology in the classroom because they are simply distracting people from learning" and that learning mathematics with a piece of paper may better develop cognitive capabilities .
Instead, Eskandar proposed a digital learning content repository as a more feasible and impactful intermediate step. He drew a sharp technical distinction between a Learning Management System (LMS) deployed as a classroom tool and a content repository built as digital public infrastructure: in an LMS, content is fragmented, not searchable, not mapped to curriculum, and not quality-assured; in a digital learning repository, content is coded, placed in a database, mapped to the curriculum, and made accessible through APIs . This approach enables third-party innovators to access official curriculum content and build culturally sensitive, curriculum-aligned tools on top of it, and allows AI to generate lesson plans based on officially curated government content . He outlined three building blocks of digital public infrastructure for education: first, a curriculum-mapped, curated, publicly accessible content repository targeted primarily at teachers; second, interoperable education data infrastructure that ingests data from formal, informal, and vocational education to create trusted learner registries; and third, educational verifiable credentials that recognise learning achievements, including micro-credentials, in a trusted and portable manner . He concluded that this approach could improve education without requiring tablets in every school, by providing teachers with access to high-quality content .
Cambodia's National LMS Journey. SOK Puthyvuth, Secretary of State from Cambodia's Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, described Cambodia's decade-long journey to adopt a national learning management system . The process began with drafting digital economy and society policy frameworks, which led to the realisation that a shared vision across ministries was needed and that a digital learning platform was a critical piece of the puzzle . COVID-19 accelerated the need, as schools that had adopted technology showed measurably higher student grades, removing any remaining doubt about whether technology helps . Cambodia chose open-source platforms for cost reasons and because the open-source community provides built-in standards and broad developer support, avoiding the expense and complexity of building bespoke systems . A key methodological insight was to start with a single school and invest fully in understanding every pain point and cost before scaling, creating a replicable checklist that helps distinguish genuine problems from unfounded complaints . Cambodia is currently connecting close to 100 of its more than 13,000 schools through GIGA, with plans to accelerate through the Gateways Initiative to ensure the architecture is sustainable and scalable .
Mark West, in his bridging remarks between the Cambodia and South Africa presentations, also highlighted the example of China, where a platform that began as a small rural school support project grew to serve the entire country, eventually attracting over 150 million unique daily visitors - illustrating the potential scale of nationally governed digital learning infrastructure .
South Africa's DPI Approach. Jeanette Morwane, Deputy Director General in South Africa's Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, described how South Africa had historically struggled with fragmented ministerial ICT budgets and a lack of shared vision, resulting in digital education projects that were piloted but never scaled . COVID-19 exposed the inequality starkly: children in rural areas dependent on public schools had to stop learning, while those in private schools with infrastructure continued online . The turning point came when the president's office established a Digital Services Unit to coordinate all ministries, with each minister assigned a role within a digital transformation roadmap . This presidential-level coordination enabled cross-ministry alignment, collective cabinet funding requests, and a pathway to sustainable approved budgets for digital projects that had previously remained stuck in pilot phases . South Africa's citizen-facing platform, Mamsanzi, has zero-rated all government services so that people without affordable data can access them without disruption . The government is also working with the Ministry of Finance and the South African Revenue Service to reduce the cost of smart devices . On AI, South Africa is investing in research and development to build large language models using indigenous languages, to preserve culture and build AI sovereignty rather than relying solely on foreign AI tools .
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Audience Discussion: Offline Solutions, AI Governance, and Lifelong Learning
The open discussion segment generated a rich set of questions and contributions from the floor. An Indian AI capacity company founder described delivering responsible AI literacy to rural women educators via WhatsApp in regional languages through bite-sized videos, reporting early evidence of behaviour change among educators who were then taking their learning forward to their communities . A Stanford University student asked whether there is a feasible and effective way to solve AI's monocultural problem so that AI can be integrated as a building block in digital education DPI - directing the question to Ayman Essam, whom the student referred to as "Mr. Islam," apparently in error . A data quality expert from Codata raised concerns about the probabilistic nature of large language models, noting that the same question can yield different responses and questioning how suitable this is for educational purposes . A WTO representative asked for clarification on the sequencing and complementarity between GIGA and Gateways, and which ministries serve as counterparts for each initiative . A tech nonprofit founder working in South Africa and Kenya asked how the initiatives are working around infrastructure bottlenecks such as lack of tablets and connectivity, and whether offline solutions and local actors are being incorporated . A Mexican digital policy official shared that aligning connectivity programmes with device deployment under a single integrated programme, with contractual penalties for non-performance, had been critical to digitalising 25 million students and 1.5 million teachers . A researcher from Xiamen University raised the question of how universities can fulfil their role in lifelong learning transitions in the AI era .
In response, South Africa's Morwane described zero-rating and device affordability initiatives, and noted that South Africa's investment in indigenous language LLMs is a direct response to AI's cultural insensitivity . Cambodia's SOK Puthyvuth expressed optimism about AI's potential for lifelong learning, comparing it to the calculator, but argued that every country needs its own LLM and that making AI a form of digital public infrastructure could help balance the interests of users and technology owners . Kenya's Kerema described an integrated digital ecosystem approach covering internet connectivity, devices, digital labs, security, capacity building for teachers and citizens, public Wi-Fi, digital hubs, digital clubs, and digital jobs programmes . The Mozambique representative acknowledged that the country still lacks a national digital learning platform and faces challenges of device affordability, high data costs, teacher training, and the need to digitalise curricula across many local languages .
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Closing Remarks: Complementarity, Human-Centred Education, and the Post-2030 Agenda
COVID-19 served as a catalyst across multiple countries represented at the session, accelerating the urgency of digital education investment and exposing pre-existing inequalities - a theme that recurred in the contributions from Cambodia, South Africa, and others. Spain's Ambassador Clara Cabrera Brasero provided closing remarks that reaffirmed Spain's support for GIGA since its inception, including through the GIGA Centre in Barcelona, and called for the GIGA model of inter-agency coordination to be scaled to other UN agencies and the broader multilateral system . She framed digital education as part of a new social contract, emphasising the need for human-centred digital education with human supervision, and linking the GIGA and Gateways initiatives to the broader AI governance agenda, including the coalition for the protection of children in AI launched the previous day . She concluded by affirming that "there is no progress, no justice, no peace without real education," and that Spain would continue to support GIGA and engage with all participants as part of a roadmap for the way forward .
UNESCO's Sobhi Tawil, Director of the Division for the Future of Learning and Innovation and Acting Director of the International Bureau of Education, provided the final synthesis. He framed the session's content around the three pillars of the Transforming Education Summit 2022: connectivity, digital competencies, and digital content . While GIGA addresses the first pillar, the Gateways Initiative addresses the third - the often-overlooked dimension of public digital learning content - which organises learning material, ensures quality and context relevance, protects children's safety and privacy, and aligns with local and national curricular standards . He described this as the sense of digital public infrastructure for education and the idea of the digital commons for education, framing it as part of the future of the right to education . He celebrated the complementarity between GIGA and Gateways, and between ITU, UNICEF, and UNESCO, as "an excellent example of the UN working as one, learning from countries and supporting countries" . Looking ahead, he noted that UNESCO's two priorities under new leadership - AI and education, and the post-2030 development agenda - make the combined GIGA and Gateways initiatives an essential means of advancing together on the future of learning .
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Key Tensions and Unresolved Questions
Beneath the session's broadly collaborative and consensus-oriented surface, several implicit tensions emerged across the discussion. The most significant concerned the role of LMS systems: Eskandar's remarks were specifically directed against deploying LMS tools as classroom-level instruments, arguing they are fragmented and ill-suited as digital public infrastructure , whereas Cambodia's successful national strategy is built around a national-level LMS platform . This distinction - between a classroom LMS and a nationally governed platform - was not explicitly addressed in the session, leaving the apparent contradiction unresolved. A second tension existed between Vodacom's market-oriented argument that governments must create enabling environments for investor returns and the government representatives' emphasis on public mandates, universal service obligations, and government-led sustainability mechanisms . A third tension concerned the appropriate role of technology in the classroom: Eskandar cited studies suggesting excessive technology may distract from learning , while Cambodia, Kenya, and Vodacom all implicitly or explicitly endorsed greater technology integration .
Several important questions remained unresolved at the session's close: how AI's monocultural bias can be systematically addressed for non-Western learners; how to validate and quality-assure educational content across diverse cultural and linguistic contexts; how to design offline-capable solutions for schools with intermittent connectivity; how to extend digital education benefits from the school to the household ecosystem; and how to build and sustain national large language models in lower-income countries lacking the technical capacity and financial resources to do so independently . These questions, left open by the session, point towards the research and policy agenda that will need to be addressed if the ambitions of both GIGA and the Gateways Initiative are to be fully realised in the post-2030 development landscape.
GIGA addresses a concrete problem of connectivity gaps for children, working with governments, mapping gaps, structuring investments, and bringing together technical, regulatory, and financial expertise - Switzerland's support for GIGA (Thomas Gürber)
Arg. 1Switzerland has supported GIGA since its early days because the initiative starts from a concrete problem: children lacking meaningful connectivity face fewer learning opportunities and a wider digital gap. GIGA tackles this by working with governments, mapping gaps, structuring investments, and assembling the technical, regulatory, and financial expertise needed to implement its ambitious vision.
Switzerland was convinced by the initiative because it starts from a very concrete problem, namely that for many children the lack of meaningful connectivity means fewer learning opportunities, fewer digital skills, and a wider gap with those who already benefit from the digital world . GIGA works with governments, maps gaps, helps structure investments, and brings together the technical, regulatory, and financial expertise needed .
on: The complementarity between GIGA and the Gateways Initiative, and between ITU, UNICEF, and UNESCO, represents an effective model of UN inter-agency cooperation
Connecting schools is a necessary first step, but must be followed by digital education systems that work in practice, with platforms, content, and services aligned together - Connectivity as a first step (Thomas Gürber)
Arg. 2While school connectivity is essential, it is only the first in a series of steps. Once connectivity is in place, countries also need digital education systems that function not just in theory but in practice, with platforms, content, and services fitting together intelligently and teachers and ministries able to use and manage them.
Ambassador Gürber stated that connecting schools is essential but not the only step, describing it as necessary but the first in a series of steps that need to be tracked . He noted that once connectivity is there, countries also need digital education systems that work in practice, with platforms, content, and services neatly and intelligently aligned, and teachers and ministries able to use and manage them appropriately .
on: Connectivity is a necessary but insufficient first step; a holistic digital ecosystem is required
GIGA represents a multi-stakeholder interagency initiative between ITU and UNICEF, touching on WSIS action lines covering infrastructure, e-learning, and international cooperation - GIGA and WSIS alignment (Alex Wong)
Arg. 1The GIGA initiative and the Gateways Charter are presented as exemplary of WSIS in action because they span multiple WSIS action lines, including infrastructure and communications infrastructure, ICT applications and e-learning, and international and regional cooperation. The collaboration involves not only three UN agencies but also governments, civil society, and the private sector.
Alex Wong explained that GIGA and the Gateways Charter touch on WSIS action line C2 (infrastructure and communications infrastructure), C7 (ICT applications and e-learning), and C11 (international and regional cooperation), involving not just the three UN agencies but all stakeholders including governments, civil society, and the private sector .
The GIGA initiative uses school mapping, connectivity planning, blended finance, transparent procurement, and capacity building to connect schools step by step - GIGA methodology (Video Narrator)
Arg. 1GIGA's methodology begins with mapping schools so they can be identified and targeted, then moves through analysing infrastructure gaps and costs, unlocking blended finance from public budgets and development banks, enabling transparent and efficient procurement, and building stakeholder capacity. This step-by-step approach is designed to get the internet into every school so children can bridge the digital divide.
The video narrator described GIGA's process: starting with maps because you cannot connect a school you cannot see, then analysing infrastructure gaps and associated costs to provide a connectivity plan, unlocking finance through public budgets, development banks, and investments working together, helping governments sign contracts through transparent and efficient procurement, and providing capacity development opportunities .
on: Accurate school mapping and data are foundational prerequisites for effective school connectivity programmes
School connectivity requires solving four simultaneous problems: enabling regulatory environments, government planning capacity, sustainable private operator models, and mobilising capital beyond public budgets - Four interconnected challenges (Ivan Monforte Fugarolas)
Arg. 1Connecting every school to the internet is not a single problem but four that must be solved simultaneously. The regulatory environment must enable investment, governments must be able to plan and execute at scale, private operators must find a sustainable business model, and the financial architecture must mobilise capital beyond what public budgets alone can provide.
Ivan Monforte Fugarolas outlined the four simultaneous challenges: the regulatory environment must enable investments, governments must be able to plan and execute at scale, private operators must find a sustainable model to participate in, and the final architecture must mobilise capital beyond what public budgets can provide .
on: Multi-stakeholder partnerships across government, private sector, international organisations, and civil society are essential for school connectivity
Connectivity must be treated as national digital infrastructure integrated into broader broadband and universal access investments, not as an isolated school project - Connectivity as national infrastructure (Mary Kerema)
Arg. 1Kenya's experience shows that school connectivity should not be viewed merely as giving schools internet access, but as part of a national digital infrastructure integrated into the country's broader broadband and universal access investments. This approach reduces costs and maximises the return on public investment.
Mary Kerema stated that connectivity is a national digital infrastructure and that many countries approach it as just connecting a school, whereas it needs to be integrated into broader investments in broadband and universal access initiatives rather than done as an isolated project, in order to reduce costs and maximise public investment .
Infrastructure alone is insufficient; connected schools also require reliable electricity, affordable devices, secure networks, digital content, and capacity-built teachers - Beyond infrastructure (Mary Kerema)
Arg. 2A connected school needs more than just internet access; it also requires reliable electricity, affordable devices, a secure network, digital learning content, and teachers who have been trained and equipped to use technology confidently. Without these complementary elements, teachers shy away from technology and the investment fails to deliver impact.
Kerema noted that a connected school requires reliable electricity (a great challenge in Kenya), affordable devices, a secure network, digital learning content, and teachers who have been capacity-built to take the initiative with confidence . She observed that teachers are shying away from technology because they have not been equipped or trained .
on: Teacher capacity building and empowerment are essential components of effective digital education
on: Where the primary bottleneck in digital education lies: connectivity, devices, content, teacher capacity, or household economics
Partnerships and collaborations across government, private sector, development partners, local communities, and international organisations are essential for shared investment and accountability - Importance of partnerships (Mary Kerema)
Arg. 3Kenya has learned that government cannot tackle school connectivity alone and that partnerships with the private sector, development partners, local communities, and international organisations are essential. Such collaborations enable shared investment and shared accountability across all stakeholders.
Kerema identified partnerships and collaborations as a key lesson, stating that government cannot go at it alone and that collaborating with the private sector, development partners, local communities, and international organisations is key to achieving shared investment and shared accountability .
on: Multi-stakeholder partnerships across government, private sector, international organisations, and civil society are essential for school connectivity
Open and interoperable systems are critical to avoid vendor lock-in and ensure sustainability, growth, and scalability of digital education initiatives - Open and interoperable systems (Mary Kerema)
Arg. 4Kenya is moving away from isolated, individualised system implementations towards open and interoperable systems led by a whole-of-government approach. Without openness and interoperability, closed proprietary solutions create vendor lock-in, making sustainability, growth, and scaling problematic.
Kerema explained that Kenya is calling upon everyone, with government leading, to adopt open and interoperable systems to act as a whole of government, and that once systems are open and interoperable, vendor lock-in is avoided because closed solutions make sustainability, growth, and scaling a problem .
on: Open and interoperable systems are critical to avoid vendor lock-in and enable scalability, innovation, and sustainability
Sustainability beyond donor support is the greatest challenge; projects must be designed to continue after external support ends, with clear metrics measuring impact on children's lives and job creation - Sustainability and impact measurement (Mary Kerema)
Arg. 5The greatest lesson Kenya has learned is that projects must be designed for sustainability beyond donor and GIGA support, as projects are dying once external funding ends. Success should be measured not by the number of schools connected but by the impact on children's lives, educational performance, and job creation.
Kerema described sustainability as the greatest lesson, noting that projects are dying once support goes and that it is unfortunate given that the future of children is being built . She argued that clear metrics and KPIs are needed to measure impact, including how many lives have been impacted, how many children have improved performance, and how many jobs have been created through connectivity .
on: The role of government regulation and taxation versus enabling investor returns in driving connectivity
Before GIGA, Mozambique's school connectivity was limited to satellite-only solutions without school mapping; GIGA transformed the approach to technology-neutral, holistic connectivity design including child protection and power solutions - Before and after GIGA in Mozambique (Socrates Titoce)
Arg. 1Before GIGA, Mozambique connected 310 schools using only LEO satellite systems without school mapping, focusing solely on internet provision. After partnering with GIGA and the World Bank, Mozambique shifted to a technology-neutral approach that includes school mapping, holistic connectivity design, child online protection, and integrated power solutions.
Titoce described that before GIGA, Mozambique deployed 310 schools with connectivity focused only on internet using prescriptive satellite technology with no school mapping . After GIGA and World Bank partnership, the methodology changed to include school mapping, technology neutrality, holistic internet connectivity design including security and child protection, and integrated power solutions .
The Universal Service Fund must evolve from a project-based approach to an ongoing obligation ensuring sustainability of school connectivity after external funding ends - Universal Service Fund as sustainability mechanism (Socrates Titoce)
Arg. 2Mozambique is studying how the Universal Service Fund can be transformed from a project-based mechanism into an ongoing obligation to ensure the sustainability of school connectivity once GIGA and World Bank funding ends. This evolution is essential to maintain the gains made through the initiative.
Titoce stated that the Universal Service Fund, before GIGA, was just about connectivity, but after GIGA, Mozambique is studying that it must be an obligation to make sure the Universal Service Fund can continue providing service with the project, because one day GIGA and World Bank will stop funding them . He added that under the Universal Service Fund, they can continue providing sustainability of school connectivity .
on: Sustainability beyond donor and external funding is a critical challenge that must be addressed by design
on: The role of government regulation and taxation versus enabling investor returns in driving connectivity
Regulators must enable not only connectivity licences and infrastructure rights but also a fair, equitable marketplace with level-playing-field competition to drive economic value for investors - Enabling fair regulatory environment (Ayman Essam)
Arg. 1Regulators are required not only to enable connectivity through licences, spectrum, towers, permits, and fibre infrastructure, but also to create a fair and equitable marketplace with level-playing-field competition that drives economic value for investors. Without this, operators cannot justify the investment required to expand connectivity.
Essam argued that regulators need to consider how to enable a fair, equitable marketplace that provides an opportunity for decent competition on a level playing field to drive economic value to investors, describing this as the number one underlying problem that is not currently happening .
on: Multi-stakeholder partnerships across government, private sector, international organisations, and civil society are essential for school connectivity
Governments cannot simultaneously maximise tax revenues from operators and expect those operators to invest heavily in connectivity; policy decisions must balance investor returns with public goals - Balancing investor returns and public goals (Ayman Essam)
Arg. 2Governments often want to please voters, attract investment, and collect taxes simultaneously, but continually squeezing operators for more taxes and social contributions ultimately deters investment and hinders development. Policy decisions must strike a balance between enabling investor returns and pursuing public goals.
Essam described governments wanting everything at the same time - pleasing people, winning votes, and attracting investors - while squeezing operators for more and more taxes and contributions, and then wondering why their countries are not developing . He stated that the answer is simple: serious decisions must be taken to enable investors to have value in the ecosystem .
on: The role of government regulation and taxation versus enabling investor returns in driving connectivity
The digital education ecosystem must extend beyond the school building to include home connectivity, devices that children can take home, parental digital enablement, and household economic stability - Whole ecosystem beyond the school (Ayman Essam)
Arg. 3Providing connectivity and devices only within the school building is insufficient because children need to continue learning at home, which requires home connectivity, devices they can take home, energy to charge those devices, and economically stable households where caregivers do not need to sell the devices. The entire ecosystem around the child must be considered.
Essam illustrated the problem by noting that a child provided with connectivity and a tablet in school is completely disconnected as soon as they leave, and must leave the tablet at school, yet is required to study digital content at home with no device and no connectivity . He extended this to the need for energy at home to charge the tablet and for caregivers to have food on the table so they do not sell the device .
on: Connectivity is a necessary but insufficient first step; a holistic digital ecosystem is required
on: Where the primary bottleneck in digital education lies: connectivity, devices, content, teacher capacity, or household economics
Enabling mothers with digital skills, devices, and connectivity has a multiplier effect on the entire family's educational and economic outcomes, as demonstrated by Vodafone Egypt's experience - Enabling mothers as ecosystem driver (Ayman Essam)
Arg. 4Vodafone Egypt's experience showed that the real issue in the digital education ecosystem is not the child or the school but the mother. By providing mothers with a handset, digital skills, connectivity, and income-generating opportunities, the entire family benefits, as surveys confirmed that enabling the mother enables the whole family.
Essam described how Vodafone Egypt identified the mother as the key lever, providing her with a handset, teaching her a skill, enabling her to make money, and providing connectivity to where she and the school are, after which the mother started making money and everything else followed . He noted that surveys confirmed this finding, not just opinion .
AI systems trained predominantly on Western and English-language data produce culturally and linguistically insensitive responses for learners in African and other non-Western contexts, undermining the value of digital learning tools - AI cultural insensitivity problem (Ayman Essam)
Arg. 5When learners in African countries use AI tools such as Meta AI or Google AI, the responses they receive are based on Western language and culture and are culturally insensitive to their own context. This undermines the value of digital learning tools and represents a significant barrier to equitable AI-enabled education.
Essam stated that if a Kenyan boy in a connected school with a tablet types a request into a major AI system, the answer he receives will be a Western-based, language-translated answer that is culturally insensitive to Kenyan culture, and that he tested this himself . He described the responses as potentially religiously, culturally, or gender insensitive .
on: Whether AI is primarily an opportunity or a risk for education in developing country contexts
Vodacom and the GSMA are working on African language inclusion in large language models, and Vodafone Group Foundation has developed school-in-a-box and network-in-a-box solutions for underserved contexts - Industry efforts on African language AI (Ayman Essam)
Arg. 6In response to the cultural insensitivity of current AI systems, Vodacom is working with the GSMA to include African languages in large language models. Additionally, Vodafone Group Foundation has developed practical solutions including a school-in-a-box with 24 tablets and a network-in-a-box for refugee camps, as well as digital learning platforms in Egypt and South Africa.
Essam described Vodacom's work with the GSM Association to enable African language inclusion in AI large language models . He also described the Instant Network School concept developed by Vodafone Group Foundation in partnership with UNHCR, a school-in-a-box with 24 tablets, a network-in-a-box for refugee camps, and platforms called Ta'alimi in Egypt and ConnectU in South Africa .
Public digital learning platforms are a relatively new concept that emerged during COVID; many disappeared post-COVID but are now making a comeback, and the Gateways Initiative encourages governments to invest in, govern, and build them - Emergence of public digital learning platforms (Frank van Cappelle)
Arg. 1Although education technology has existed for a long time, public digital learning platforms are a fairly new and emerging concept that came to prominence during COVID. Many platforms that governments created during the pandemic disappeared afterwards, but they are now making a comeback, and the Gateways Initiative is part of a movement to encourage governments to invest in, govern, and build these platforms sustainably.
Van Cappelle explained that public digital learning platforms emerged during COVID, when many governments put content online, but a lot of them disappeared after COVID and are now making a comeback . He described the Gateways Initiative as part of a movement to encourage governments to invest in, govern, and build public digital learning platforms, and to develop the first normative guidance and principles around what makes an effective, inclusive, and high-quality platform .
Gateways now has 35 member countries and functions as a community of practice where countries learn from each other, given the rapidly changing landscape including AI - Gateways as a learning community (Frank van Cappelle)
Arg. 2The Gateways Initiative has rapidly expanded to 35 member countries, with about 50 countries having benefited from the network. It functions as a community of practice where countries learn from each other, which is particularly important given the rapidly changing landscape of AI and digital learning platforms.
Van Cappelle noted that Gateways now has 35 member countries and about 50 countries that have benefited from the network and joined events and exchanges, describing it as a community to learn from each other because the field is fairly new but rapidly changing, especially in the world of AI .
Public digital learning platforms can serve diverse audiences including out-of-school children, children in emergencies, children with disabilities, and linguistic minorities, going beyond serving only enrolled students - Inclusive potential of platforms (Frank van Cappelle)
Arg. 3National digital learning platforms have the potential to serve not just children who are enrolled in school but also those who are out of school, children in emergencies who cannot physically access school, children with disabilities who need content in different formats, and linguistic minorities who need content in their own languages. This inclusive potential is a key focus of the Gateways Initiative.
Van Cappelle described how platforms can be a lifeline for children in emergencies or unable to physically access school, a way for children with disabilities to participate through content in different formats, and a way to reach children who are linguistic minorities through content in different languages .
The end goal is not to build platforms but to have impact on children's learning, including remedial education, accelerated learning, and providing lifelines for children unable to physically access school - Impact over platform-building (Frank van Cappelle)
Arg. 4Building digital learning platforms is not an end in itself; the true goal is to have a measurable impact on children's learning outcomes. This means ensuring platforms actually deliver the purpose of education, whether through remedial education, accelerating learning for struggling children, or providing a lifeline for those who cannot otherwise access learning.
Van Cappelle referenced the comment from Kenya's Secretary Kerima that the end goal is not to build platforms but to have impact for children . He described Gateways' increasing focus on working with countries to ensure platforms are actually delivering the purpose of education, reaching children and having an impact on their learning through remedial education, accelerated learning, or providing a lifeline .
on: Connectivity is a necessary but insufficient first step; a holistic digital ecosystem is required
on: Where the primary bottleneck in digital education lies: connectivity, devices, content, teacher capacity, or household economics
The technical architecture and coding of platforms determine whether they are open, modular, and interoperable; ITU's role in Gateways is to provide guidance on the technical stacks underpinning high-quality public digital learning platforms - Technical architecture of platforms (Mark West)
Arg. 1As the Gateways Initiative engaged with countries about their digital learning platforms, it became clear that the technical architecture and coding of these platforms fundamentally determine whether they are open, modular, and interoperable. ITU was brought in as a partner to provide guidance on the technical stacks that should underpin high-quality public digital learning platforms.
Mark West explained that conversations with countries revealed there are technical stacks and architecture behind platforms, and that the way platforms are coded and their foundational architecture determines whether they are open, modular, and interoperable . This led to extensive conversations with ITU to understand what technical stacks should be the basis of a high-quality public digital learning platform .
Rather than deploying LMS systems in every school, a digital learning content repository coded as infrastructure, mapped to the curriculum, and accessible via APIs is a more feasible and impactful intermediate step - Content repository as digital infrastructure (Hani Eskandar)
Arg. 1Instead of setting up learning management systems in every school — which is expensive, complex, and produces fragmented, non-searchable content — a digital learning repository coded as infrastructure and mapped to the curriculum offers a more feasible intermediate step. This approach makes content searchable, discoverable, accessible, and shareable through APIs, and is targeted primarily at teachers.
Eskandar described the problem with LMS systems as content being fragmented, not searchable, not mapped to curriculum, and not quality-assured or culturally sensitive . He proposed a digital learning repository as the solution, where content is coded, put in a database, mapped to the curriculum, and made accessible through APIs, making it searchable, discoverable, accessible, and shareable .
on: Teacher capacity building and empowerment are essential components of effective digital education
on: Where the primary bottleneck in digital education lies: connectivity, devices, content, teacher capacity, or household economics
Curriculum-mapped, curated, publicly accessible content repositories enable third-party innovators and AI to build culturally sensitive, curriculum-aligned educational tools on top of official government content - Enabling innovation on top of official content (Hani Eskandar)
Arg. 2When educational content is available as coded infrastructure mapped to the official curriculum, third-party innovators can access it and build technology innovations that are curriculum-aligned and culturally sensitive, rather than pulling irrelevant content from the internet. AI can also use this official content to build lesson plans, animations, and other innovative delivery methods.
Eskandar explained that when content is available as infrastructure, third-party innovators can access the official curriculum and build tech innovation on top of it in a way that is aligned with the curriculum, culturally sensitive, and not pulling irrelevant internet content . He also described how AI has been used in some countries to build lesson plans based on official curated content, including developing animations and PowerPoint presentations .
on: Open and interoperable systems are critical to avoid vendor lock-in and enable scalability, innovation, and sustainability
A second DPI building block is interoperable education data infrastructure that ingests data from formal, informal, and vocational education to create trusted learner registries and enable informed decision-making - Interoperable education data infrastructure (Hani Eskandar)
Arg. 3Education data is so fragmented across countries that informed decision-making is impossible. A second building block of digital public infrastructure for education is creating interoperability across data sources from formal K-12 education, informal education, lifelong learning, and vocational training, to create officially recognised learner registries that enable trusted services and innovation.
Eskandar stated that data about education is so fragmented that many countries are not able to make any informed decisions, and described the second building block as creating interoperability and ingesting data from different sources including formal education K-12, informal education, lifelong education, and vocational training, to create learning records based on a learner registry that is officially recognised as the official source of truth .
A third DPI building block is educational verifiable credentials that recognise learning achievements, including micro-credentials, in a trusted and portable manner - Verifiable credentials for education (Hani Eskandar)
Arg. 4The third building block of digital public infrastructure for education is a system of educational verifiable credentials that allows learning achievements, including micro-credentials from non-formal sources, to be recognised in a trusted and portable manner. This enables learners to prove their qualifications regardless of where they were obtained.
Eskandar described the third building block as educational verifiable credentials that allow recognition of education achievements including micro-credentials in a trusted manner, giving the example that if someone took a course on Microsoft, they can still prove they took it .
South Africa's DPI approach, driven from the president's office with a digital services unit coordinating all ministries, provided shared vision, cross-ministry alignment, and a pathway to sustainable cabinet-approved funding for digital education projects - DPI approach for cross-ministry coordination (Jeanette Morwane)
Arg. 1South Africa's experience showed that a DPI approach driven from the president's office, with a digital services unit coordinating all ministries, was essential to overcome the challenge of different ministries owning separate ICT budgets and lacking a shared vision. This approach enabled collective cabinet funding requests that are more likely to be approved and provide sustainability for digital projects.
Morwane described how the president's office set up a digital services unit that coordinated everyone, with each minister given a role within the roadmap . She noted that previously digital projects in education were piloted and remained in the pilot phase without sustainability, but now, because there is understanding around the value of digital transformation, all ministries go collectively to cabinet to request funding, making it easier for funding to be approved and providing sustainability .
on: Sustainability beyond donor and external funding is a critical challenge that must be addressed by design
Zero-rating government services on citizen-facing platforms and working to reduce the cost of smart devices are practical measures to ensure that rural and low-income populations can access digital education services - Zero-rating and device affordability (Jeanette Morwane)
Arg. 2To address the challenge of rural schools and low-income populations lacking affordable access to digital services, South Africa has zero-rated all government services on its citizen-facing platform Mamsanzi, so people without affordable data can still access services. The government is also working with the Ministry of Finance and the South African Revenue Service to reduce the cost of smart devices.
Morwane explained that South Africa has zero-rated all government services offered through the Mamsanzi platform so that even people without connectivity or affordable data costs can access services without disruption . She also described an initiative driven by the minister to engage with the Ministry of Finance and the South African Revenue Service to look at reducing the cost of smart devices .
South Africa is investing in research and development to build large language models using indigenous languages, preserving culture and building AI sovereignty rather than relying solely on foreign AI tools - Indigenous language LLMs for AI sovereignty (Jeanette Morwane)
Arg. 3Recognising that AI models rely on available data and that current tools are not built on South African languages and culture, South Africa is investing in research and development in cooperation with its Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation to develop large language models using indigenous languages. This aims to preserve culture and build AI sovereignty.
Morwane stated that one of the biggest initiatives South Africa is doing in cooperation with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation is to invest in research and development to develop large language models using indigenous languages, so as to preserve culture and languages and build sovereignty of AI tools in the country rather than relying only on foreign AI tools .
Cambodia's journey to adopting a national LMS took over ten years of assembling data centres, connectivity, and platform components; COVID accelerated the need, and evidence from schools that adopted technology showed measurably higher student grades - Cambodia's decade-long platform journey (SOK Puthyvuth)
Arg. 1Cambodia's path to a national learning management system took more than ten years of assembling the necessary components including data centres, connectivity, and platforms. COVID accelerated the urgency, and evidence from schools that adopted technology clearly showed higher student grades and exam pass rates, removing any doubt about whether technology helps.
SOK Puthyvuth described that it took Cambodia more than ten years to bring all the pieces together, including data centres, connectivity, and a learning management system . He noted that COVID accelerated the need, and that schools which adopted technology showed higher grades and students passing exams at higher rates, leaving no need to further convince anyone whether technology helps .
on: Whether technology should be introduced into the classroom or whether its role should be rolled back
Choosing open-source platforms was driven by cost considerations and the benefit of community-maintained standards, avoiding the expense and complexity of building bespoke systems - Open-source platform choice (SOK Puthyvuth)
Arg. 2Cambodia chose open-source platforms primarily for cost reasons, recognising that building a bespoke system was out of the question as it proved very heavy and even more expensive. The open-source community provides many contributors, broad support, and built-in standards that can be leveraged without starting from scratch.
SOK Puthyvuth explained that the reason Cambodia picked open source was cost, stating they did not need a Mercedes at this stage, just something that can go, and that building it themselves was out of the question because they tried and it became very heavy and even more expensive . He noted that the open-source community has many people, many eyes, and a lot of support in terms of standards .
on: Open and interoperable systems are critical to avoid vendor lock-in and enable scalability, innovation, and sustainability
Starting with a single school and investing fully to understand every pain point and cost created a replicable checklist that helps distinguish genuine problems from unfounded complaints at scale - Single-school pilot methodology (SOK Puthyvuth)
Arg. 3Cambodia's approach of starting with a single school and giving it 100% effort to understand every pain point, challenge, and cost created a detailed checklist of what each school needs to fully operate using an LMS. This checklist is valuable at scale because it helps distinguish genuine problems from unfounded complaints.
SOK Puthyvuth described picking just one school and giving it 100% effort to understand the school inside and out, including pain points, challenges, costs, and everything needed to support the school, curriculum, and administrative issues . He noted that this generated a lot of data and a checklist, and that in the future when schools complain, it is possible to understand whether they have real problems or are making issues .
Every country needs its own LLM; without one, translation passes through English as an intermediary, losing cultural and linguistic fidelity, and making AI a digital public infrastructure could help balance the interests of users and owners - National LLMs as DPI (SOK Puthyvuth)
Arg. 4SOK Puthyvuth argued that every country probably needs its own large language model, because without one, translation goes from English to other languages indirectly, losing cultural and linguistic fidelity. He suggested that making AI a digital public infrastructure could help balance the interests of users and owners of the technology.
SOK Puthyvuth stated that on cultural sensitivity, every country probably needs to have their own LLM, because without one, translation goes from English to other languages indirectly and takes a lot of effort to develop a good LLM . He suggested that if AI is made a DPI, this issue could potentially be solved, and emphasised that the balance of interests between users and owners of AI technology is very important .
on: AI systems trained predominantly on Western and English-language data are culturally insensitive and unsuitable for learners in non-Western contexts, requiring localised solutions
AI has the potential to support lifelong learning and education broadly, similar to how the calculator transformed mathematics education, but the balance of interests between users and owners of AI technology must be addressed - Optimism about AI for lifelong learning (SOK Puthyvuth)
Arg. 5SOK Puthyvuth expressed optimism about AI's potential to support lifelong learning and education, drawing a parallel with how the calculator transformed mathematics education despite initial concerns. However, he stressed that the balance of interests between users and owners of AI technology must be addressed for AI to become truly useful.
SOK Puthyvuth stated that he is optimistic about AI and that humanity has faced similar challenges before, such as when the calculator came out, but that AI has bigger potential . He noted that AI will definitely help in education and lifelong learning, but that the balance of interests between users and owners of the technology needs to be balanced for AI to become something very useful .
on: Whether AI is primarily an opportunity or a risk for education in developing country contexts
Mozambique lacks a national digital learning platform and faces challenges of device affordability, high data costs, teacher training, and the need to digitalise curricula across many local languages - Mozambique's digital learning platform gaps (Helena Fernandes)
Arg. 1Mozambique does not yet have a digital learning platform under its education system and is still searching for the best approach to ensure every teacher has access. Key challenges include device affordability, high data costs, insufficient teacher training, and the need to digitalise curricula across many local languages alongside the official Portuguese language.
Helena Fernandes stated that Mozambique's biggest challenge is that they do not have a digital learning platform under the education system and are still finding the best way to ensure every teacher can have access . She identified device affordability, high data costs, lack of teacher training, and the existence of too many local languages as key challenges, noting that the education system must transform and update its curriculum to be digitalised .
on: Where the primary bottleneck in digital education lies: connectivity, devices, content, teacher capacity, or household economics
A student from Stanford raised the question of whether there is a feasible way to solve AI's monocultural problem so that AI can be integrated as a building block in digital education DPI - AI monoculture challenge for education DPI (Audience)
Arg. 1A Stanford student noted the monocultural problem of AI being trained mostly on English and Western-centric data, resulting in cultural insensitivity, and asked whether there is a feasible and effective way to solve this issue so that AI can be integrated as a building block in a digital education DPI alongside content repositories, data infrastructure, and verifiable credentials.
The Stanford student referenced Ayman Essam's earlier point about AI's monocultural problem due to training mostly on English and Western-centric data resulting in cultural insensitivity , and asked whether there is a feasible and effective way to solve this issue such that AI can be integrated as one of the building blocks in a digital education DPI in addition to the repository, data, and verifiable credentials .
A data quality expert raised concerns about validation of educational content in AI systems, noting that probabilistic LLM responses can vary and may not be reliable for educational purposes - AI reliability and content validation concerns (Audience)
Arg. 2A representative from a data quality task group raised concerns about how educational content is validated in AI systems, particularly given the probabilistic nature of large language models that can produce different responses to the same question. He questioned how suitable such variable and potentially unreliable outputs are for educational purposes.
The Codata data quality task group representative noted that Mark West had mentioned quality control content several times and that Hani Eskandar had referred to an official source of truth, and raised the question of how validation of data for education and verification of different cultural contexts is handled . He pointed out that asking an AI chatbot the same question twice often produces different responses due to the probabilistic nature of large language models, and questioned how good this is for education .
on: Whether AI is primarily an opportunity or a risk for education in developing country contexts
A WTO representative asked for clarification on the sequencing and complementarity between GIGA and Gateways, and which ministries serve as counterparts for each initiative - Sequencing and complementarity of GIGA and Gateways (Audience)
Arg. 3A representative from the Enhanced Integrated Framework at WTO asked for more detail on how GIGA and the Gateways Initiative are sequenced and complement each other, which ministries serve as counterparts for each initiative, and whether there are synergies between the stakeholders involved in both.
The WTO representative asked for explanation of the sequencing of support and complementarity between the two initiatives, noting that Hani Eskandar had mentioned the Gateways Initiative as perhaps an idea of GIGA Plus, and asked which ministries are the different counterparts and whether there are synergies between the stakeholders .
A tech nonprofit founder asked how the initiatives are working around infrastructure bottlenecks such as lack of tablets and connectivity in developing countries, and whether offline solutions and local actors are being incorporated - Offline solutions and local actor engagement (Audience)
Arg. 4The co-founder of a tech nonprofit building AI solutions for secondary schools in South Africa and Kenya raised the practical bottlenecks of infrastructure, lack of tablets, and connectivity in developing countries, and asked how the initiatives are working around these challenges, including whether offline solutions are being considered and how local actors are being engaged.
The nonprofit co-founder noted that throughout the conversations, very logistical and real bottlenecks came up around the distribution of connection and tooling in developing countries, including infrastructure and lack of tablets . She asked how the programme is working around these issues, whether offline solutions are being considered, and what the role of local actors is in ensuring that solutions and processes are realistic to the realities on the ground .
A Mexican digital policy official shared that aligning connectivity programmes with device deployment under a single integrated programme, with contractual penalties for non-performance, was critical to making large-scale digitalisation of 25 million students and 1.5 million teachers feasible - Integrated connectivity and device deployment (Audience)
Arg. 5A Mexican official responsible for digital policy for schools shared that the key lesson from digitalising 25 million students and 1.5 million teachers was that connectivity programmes must be aligned with device deployment under a single integrated programme. Including contractual penalisation clauses when procuring technology was essential to making such large-scale initiatives feasible.
The Mexican official described that in the past, the connectivity programme of the country was not aligned with the computer deployment, and that they decided to make a programme that considers a solution including everything, with penalisations when voting on technology, to ensure that buying technology and integrating connectivity was the most important factor in making large initiatives possible .
An Indian AI capacity company founder shared that delivering responsible AI literacy to rural women educators via WhatsApp in regional languages through bite-sized videos produced measurable behaviour change, demonstrating the value of accessible, low-resource approaches - WhatsApp-based AI literacy for rural educators (Audience)
Arg. 6The founder of an Indian AI capacity company described building a micro-credential for rural women educators and disseminating responsible AI literacy through WhatsApp in regional languages via bite-sized videos of one to one-and-a-half minutes every alternate day. Early pilots showed measurable behaviour change among educators, who then took their learning forward to their communities.
The Indian founder described building a micro-credential for rural women educators and disseminating responsible AI literacy to educators through WhatsApp in regional languages through bite-sized videos of one to one-and-a-half minutes each on alternate days, using technology they had access to and their expertise in responsible AI . She noted that early pilots are showing behaviour change for educators, who are using their AI literacy to help themselves and students better, and taking it forward to the community .
A researcher from Xiamen University raised the question of how universities and colleges can fulfil their role in lifelong learning transitions in the AI era and what challenges and opportunities this presents - Universities and lifelong learning in the AI era (Audience)
Arg. 7A researcher from Xiamen University, focusing on higher education and lifelong learning, asked how universities and colleges can meet the demands of lifelong learning transitions in the AI era, and what challenges and positive opportunities this presents for higher education institutions.
The Xiamen University associate professor stated that her research focuses on higher education and lifelong learning, and asked how universities and colleges can meet the lifelong learning transmission depending on the AI era, and what challenges or positive aspects to think about for the future .
The Transforming Education Summit 2022 had three pillars – connectivity, digital competencies, and digital content – and while GIGA addresses the first, the Gateways Initiative addresses the third, overlooked dimension of public digital learning content - Three pillars of digital education (Sobhi Tawil)
Arg. 1The Transforming Education Summit 2022 call to action had three pillars: connectivity, digital competencies and skills, and digital teaching and learning content. While GIGA addresses the first pillar of connectivity, the Gateways Initiative is anchored in the third and often overlooked dimension of content, focusing on public digital learning platforms that organise, quality-assure, and make accessible curriculum-aligned content.
Tawil described the three pillars of the Transforming Education Summit 2022 call to action: connectivity, competencies and digital skills, and the third overlooked dimension of content and digital teaching and learning content . He explained that the Gateways Initiative is anchored in this third dimension, focusing on public digital learning platforms that organise learning material, ensure quality, ensure context relevance and cultural sensitivity, protect children's safety and privacy, and align with local and national curricular standards .
on: Connectivity is a necessary but insufficient first step; a holistic digital ecosystem is required
The complementarity between GIGA and Gateways, and between ITU, UNICEF, and UNESCO, exemplifies the UN working as one to ensure greater synergy, coherence, and impact in supporting countries - UN agencies working as one (Sobhi Tawil)
Arg. 2The coming together of GIGA and the Gateways Initiative, and the complementarity between ITU, UNICEF, and UNESCO with their respective expertise, exemplifies the UN working as one. This ensures greater synergy, coherence, and impact in an interconnected process of advancing together in the fast-moving landscape of digital and AI in education.
Tawil described it as excellent to see the complementarity between the two initiatives and between the three UN agencies with their expertise, ensuring greater synergy, coherence, and impact, calling it an excellent example of the UN working as one, learning from countries and supporting countries in the fast-moving landscape of digital and AI in education .
on: The complementarity between GIGA and the Gateways Initiative, and between ITU, UNICEF, and UNESCO, represents an effective model of UN inter-agency cooperation
The Gateways Initiative and GIGA coming together will be essential for navigating the inflection moment of AI in education and for shaping the post-2030 global development agenda - GIGA and Gateways for post-2030 agenda (Sobhi Tawil)
Arg. 3With UNESCO's new leadership prioritising AI and education as well as the post-2030 development agenda, the coming together of GIGA and Gateways is described as essential for navigating this inflection moment. The Transforming Education Summit Plus Four in Paris provides an opportunity to take stock and look ahead.
Tawil noted that UNESCO has two priorities under new leadership: AI and education, and post-2030 . He described this as an inflection moment for AI and its impact on education, and for the global development agenda and early thoughts about post-2030, stating that gateways and GIGA coming together will be an essential means of learning, supporting, and advancing together on the future of learning .
Spain supports scaling the GIGA model to other UN agencies and the multilateral system, and believes human-centred digital education with human supervision is essential, linking GIGA and Gateways to the broader AI governance agenda - Scaling GIGA and human-centred digital education (Clara Cabrera Brasero)
Arg. 1Spain supports scaling the GIGA success and its model of inter-agency coordination to other UN agencies and the multilateral system. Spain also believes that human-centred digital education with human supervision is essential, and that the GIGA and Gateways initiatives must be linked to the broader AI governance agenda, including child protection in AI.
Ambassador Bracero stated that Spain's first message is how important it is to upscale the GIGA success and process to other agencies, and that this must be translated to the United Nations and the multilateral system . She referenced the launch of the coalition for the protection of children in AI and the global dialogue for AI, and stated that Spain truly believes in human-centred digital education with human supervision, connectivity, digital infrastructure, and teachers and curricula on the digital path as a holistic approach that should be fostered in AI efforts .
Session Knowledge Graph
Speakers · Topics · Arguments · Relationships
There was strong consensus across speakers that connecting schools to the internet is essential but only the first step in a series of necessary actions. Ambassador Gürber stated that connectivity is 'necessary, the first step in a series of steps which we need to keep tracking' . Kenya's Mary Kerema emphasised that 'infrastructure alone is not enough' and that connected schools also require electricity, devices, secure networks, digital content, and trained teachers . Ayman Essam extended this to the home environment, noting that children need connectivity and devices at home as well . Hani Eskandar proposed a digital content repository as a more feasible intermediate step beyond simply deploying LMS systems in every school . Sobhi Tawil synthesised this by referencing the three pillars of the Transforming Education Summit 2022 - connectivity, competencies, and content - with the Gateways Initiative addressing the often-overlooked third pillar .
Connecting schools is a necessary first step, but must be followed by digital education systems that work in practice, with platforms, content, and services aligned together - Connectivity as a first step (Thomas Gürber)
Infrastructure alone is insufficient; connected schools also require reliable electricity, affordable devices, secure networks, digital content, and capacity-built teachers - Beyond infrastructure (Mary Kerema)
Before and after GIGA in Mozambique (Socrates Titoce)
The digital education ecosystem must extend beyond the school building to include home connectivity, devices that children can take home, parental digital enablement, and household economic stability - Whole ecosystem beyond the school (Ayman Essam)
The end goal is not to build platforms but to have impact on children's learning, including remedial education, accelerated learning, and providing lifelines for children unable to physically access school - Impact over platform-building (Frank van Cappelle)
Rather than deploying LMS systems in every school, a digital learning content repository coded as infrastructure, mapped to the curriculum, and accessible via APIs is a more feasible and impactful intermediate step - Content repository as digital infrastructure (Hani Eskandar)
The Transforming Education Summit 2022 had three pillars – connectivity, digital competencies, and digital content – and while GIGA addresses the first, the Gateways Initiative addresses the third, overlooked dimension of public digital learning content - Three pillars of digital education (Sobhi Tawil)
Multiple country representatives agreed that sustainability beyond external support is one of the most pressing challenges. Kenya's Kerema described sustainability as 'the greatest lesson', noting that 'projects are dying once the support goes' . Mozambique's Titoce described how the Universal Service Fund must evolve into an ongoing obligation to maintain school connectivity once GIGA and World Bank funding ends . South Africa's Morwane explained how the DPI approach enabled collective cabinet funding requests, providing sustainability for digital projects that previously remained stuck in pilot phases . Cambodia's SOK Puthyvuth described a decade-long journey to assemble the necessary components, underscoring the long-term commitment required .
Sustainability and impact measurement (Mary Kerema)
The Universal Service Fund must evolve from a project-based approach to an ongoing obligation ensuring sustainability of school connectivity after external funding ends - Universal Service Fund as sustainability mechanism (Socrates Titoce)
South Africa's DPI approach, driven from the president's office with a digital services unit coordinating all ministries, provided shared vision, cross-ministry alignment, and a pathway to sustainable cabinet-approved funding for digital education projects - DPI approach for cross-ministry coordination (Jeanette Morwane)
Cambodia's decade-long platform journey (SOK Puthyvuth)
There was broad agreement that no single actor can solve school connectivity alone and that multi-stakeholder collaboration is indispensable. Ambassador Gürber noted that GIGA 'works with governments, regulators, development partners and the private sector, which is critically important to produce the kind of impact the initiative has produced' . Kenya's Kerema stated that 'government cannot go at it alone' and that collaboration with the private sector, development partners, local communities, and international organisations is key . Ivan Monforte Fugarolas framed this as four simultaneous challenges requiring different actors . Ayman Essam emphasised the need for a fair regulatory environment to attract private investment . Ambassador Bracero called for scaling the GIGA model of inter-agency coordination to the broader multilateral system .
GIGA addresses a concrete problem of connectivity gaps for children, working with governments, mapping gaps, structuring investments, and bringing together technical, regulatory, and financial expertise - Switzerland's support for GIGA (Thomas Gürber)
Partnerships and collaborations across government, private sector, development partners, local communities, and international organisations are essential for shared investment and accountability - Importance of partnerships (Mary Kerema)
School connectivity requires solving four simultaneous problems: enabling regulatory environments, government planning capacity, sustainable private operator models, and mobilising capital beyond public budgets - Four interconnected challenges (Ivan Monforte Fugarolas)
Regulators must enable not only connectivity licences and infrastructure rights but also a fair, equitable marketplace with level-playing-field competition to drive economic value for investors - Enabling fair regulatory environment (Ayman Essam)
Scaling GIGA and human-centred digital education (Clara Cabrera Brasero)
Multiple speakers converged on the view that current AI systems are culturally insensitive for non-Western learners. Ayman Essam described how a Kenyan student using major AI tools would receive 'a Western-based, language-translated answer that is culturally insensitive to the Kenyan culture' . South Africa's Morwane described investing in research and development to build large language models using indigenous languages to 'preserve our culture and our languages' and build AI sovereignty . Cambodia's SOK Puthyvuth argued that 'every country probably needs to have their own LLM' because without one, translation goes through English as an intermediary . A Stanford student in the audience also raised this as a key challenge .
AI cultural insensitivity problem (Ayman Essam)
Indigenous language LLMs for AI sovereignty (Jeanette Morwane)
Every country needs its own LLM; without one, translation passes through English as an intermediary, losing cultural and linguistic fidelity, and making AI a digital public infrastructure could help balance the interests of users and owners - National LLMs as DPI (SOK Puthyvuth)
AI monoculture challenge for education DPI (Audience)
There was clear consensus that open and interoperable systems are essential for sustainable digital education infrastructure. Kenya's Kerema warned that closed proprietary solutions create vendor lock-in, making 'sustainability, growth, and scaling a problem' . Hani Eskandar described how coding content as open infrastructure accessible via APIs enables third-party innovators to build curriculum-aligned, culturally sensitive tools . Cambodia's SOK Puthyvuth chose open-source platforms for cost reasons and because the open-source community provides built-in standards and broad support . Mark West explained that the technical architecture of platforms fundamentally determines 'whether those platforms are open, whether they're modular, whether they're interoperable' .
Open and interoperable systems are critical to avoid vendor lock-in and ensure sustainability, growth, and scalability of digital education initiatives - Open and interoperable systems (Mary Kerema)
Curriculum-mapped, curated, publicly accessible content repositories enable third-party innovators and AI to build culturally sensitive, curriculum-aligned educational tools on top of official government content - Enabling innovation on top of official content (Hani Eskandar)
Choosing open-source platforms was driven by cost considerations and the benefit of community-maintained standards, avoiding the expense and complexity of building bespoke systems - Open-source platform choice (SOK Puthyvuth)
Technical architecture of platforms (Mark West)
Multiple speakers agreed that accurate data and school mapping are essential starting points. The GIGA video narrator stated that 'you can't connect a school you can't see' and that mapping is the first step . Kenya's Kerema advised countries to 'start with accurate data' and conduct proper surveys to know where schools are and what has already been done . Mozambique's Titoce described how before GIGA, Mozambique deployed connectivity without school mapping, and that after GIGA, school mapping became a central part of the methodology .
The GIGA initiative uses school mapping, connectivity planning, blended finance, transparent procurement, and capacity building to connect schools step by step - GIGA methodology (Video Narrator)
Connectivity as national infrastructure (Mary Kerema)
Before and after GIGA in Mozambique (Socrates Titoce)
There was strong agreement that teachers must be central to digital education strategies. Kenya's Kerema noted that teachers are 'shying off from technology' because they have not been capacity-built or equipped . Hani Eskandar proposed that digital content repositories should be targeted primarily at teachers, enabling them to access high-quality lesson recordings and improve their teaching . Frank van Cappelle cited Indonesia's example of building a platform specifically for teachers accessible through their smartphones, addressing the pain points of remote teachers lacking professional development opportunities . Helena Fernandes from Mozambique identified lack of teacher training as one of the biggest challenges facing school connectivity .
Infrastructure alone is insufficient; connected schools also require reliable electricity, affordable devices, secure networks, digital content, and capacity-built teachers - Beyond infrastructure (Mary Kerema)
Rather than deploying LMS systems in every school, a digital learning content repository coded as infrastructure, mapped to the curriculum, and accessible via APIs is a more feasible and impactful intermediate step - Content repository as digital infrastructure (Hani Eskandar)
Inclusive potential of platforms (Frank van Cappelle)
Mozambique's digital learning platform gaps (Helena Fernandes)
Multiple speakers celebrated the complementarity between GIGA and the Gateways Initiative as an exemplary model of UN inter-agency cooperation. Alex Wong described the collaboration between ITU, UNICEF, and UNESCO as touching on multiple WSIS action lines . Ambassador Gürber noted that GIGA 'is and continues to be an interesting example for the UN system as a whole' as an interagency initiative . Sobhi Tawil described it as 'an excellent example of the UN working as one, learning from countries and supporting countries' . Ambassador Bracero called for scaling this model to other UN agencies and the multilateral system .
GIGA and WSIS alignment (Alex Wong)
GIGA addresses a concrete problem of connectivity gaps for children, working with governments, mapping gaps, structuring investments, and bringing together technical, regulatory, and financial expertise - Switzerland's support for GIGA (Thomas Gürber)
Gateways as a learning community (Frank van Cappelle)
The complementarity between GIGA and Gateways, and between ITU, UNICEF, and UNESCO, exemplifies the UN working as one to ensure greater synergy, coherence, and impact in supporting countries - UN agencies working as one (Sobhi Tawil)
Scaling GIGA and human-centred digital education (Clara Cabrera Brasero)
All three country representatives shared the view that a whole-of-government approach, with coordination across ministries, is essential for sustainable digital education. Kenya's Kerema called for 'a whole-of-government approach' bringing all ministries with a stake in connectivity to the table . South Africa's Morwane described how the president's office set up a digital services unit to coordinate all ministries, with each minister given a role within the digital transformation roadmap . Cambodia's SOK Puthyvuth described how drafting digital economy and society policy frameworks led to the realisation that a shared vision across ministries was needed, and that the learning platform was a critical piece of this . All three emphasised that siloed ministerial approaches had previously hampered progress . All three speakers from the first panel shared the view that school connectivity must be understood as part of a broader ecosystem that includes power, devices, and community-level enablement. Ayman Essam described the need for home connectivity, devices children can take home, energy to charge devices, and economically stable households . Kenya's Kerema stated that a connected school requires reliable electricity, affordable devices, a secure network, and digital learning content . Mozambique's Titoce described how after GIGA, Mozambique integrated power solutions into its school connectivity design because 'in Mozambique there are too many schools without any power' . The three UN agency representatives on the second panel shared a coherent vision of what public digital learning platforms should look like technically and functionally. Hani Eskandar described the need for content to be coded as infrastructure, mapped to the curriculum, and accessible via APIs . Frank van Cappelle described platforms as organising learning material, ensuring quality, ensuring context relevance, and protecting children's safety and privacy . Mark West explained that the technical architecture of platforms determines whether they are open, modular, and interoperable, and that ITU was brought in to provide guidance on technical stacks . Together they articulated a shared vision of digital public infrastructure for education as the foundation for effective national digital learning platforms. These four speakers shared the view that AI must be grounded in local languages, cultures, and official curricula to be useful for education in non-Western contexts. Ayman Essam described testing AI tools and finding them culturally insensitive for Kenyan learners . Hani Eskandar proposed that coding official curriculum content as infrastructure would allow AI to build lesson plans that are curriculum-aligned and culturally sensitive . SOK Puthyvuth argued that every country needs its own LLM and suggested making AI a digital public infrastructure to balance user and owner interests . Jeanette Morwane described South Africa's investment in indigenous language LLMs to build AI sovereignty . These three speakers shared the view that the ultimate measure of success in digital education is impact on children's learning outcomes, not the number of schools connected or platforms built. Kenya's Kerema argued that success should be measured not by how many schools have been connected but by 'how many lives have you impacted, how many children have transformed in terms of performance' . Frank van Cappelle referenced Kerema's comment directly, stating that 'the end goal is not to build these platforms, the end goal is to have impact for children' . Sobhi Tawil synthesised this by framing the Gateways Initiative as anchored in ensuring that 'public digital learning platforms are serving public interests and public purpose in education' . All three country representatives from the second panel shared the view that digital education initiatives must be built on sustainable, nationally owned foundations rather than relying on external support or proprietary solutions. Mozambique's Titoce described transforming the Universal Service Fund into an ongoing obligation . South Africa's Morwane described how the DPI approach enabled sustainable cabinet-approved funding . Cambodia's SOK Puthyvuth chose open-source platforms to avoid the cost and dependency of proprietary systems . All three reflected a common concern about what happens when external support ends.
It was somewhat unexpected that government representatives from Kenya and Mozambique did not push back against Ayman Essam's politically blunt critique of government over-taxation of operators . Rather than defending government policy, both government representatives implicitly agreed with the need for sustainable private sector participation. Kenya's Kerema acknowledged that 'government cannot go at it alone' and called for shared investment and accountability . Mozambique's Titoce described the need for technology neutrality to enable partnerships with multiple providers rather than a single operator . This suggests a degree of consensus between the private sector and government representatives on the need for enabling environments that make private investment viable, which might not have been expected given the different institutional interests at play.
It was unexpected that a private sector representative from a major telecoms company would articulate such a strong social development argument about the importance of enabling mothers economically as the key lever for digital education outcomes. Ayman Essam described how Vodafone Egypt's experience showed that 'the real issue comes in the mother' and that enabling the mother enables the whole family . This social development framing aligned closely with the UN agency representatives' focus on inclusion and equity. Frank van Cappelle's emphasis on platforms serving out-of-school children and children in emergencies and Hani Eskandar's focus on making content accessible without requiring devices in every classroom all reflected a shared concern for reaching the most marginalised, which is not typically the primary framing of a private sector operator.
It was unexpected that speakers from across different institutional backgrounds converged on a note of caution about over-digitalising classrooms. Hani Eskandar explicitly stated that 'one of the biggest myths in digital learning' is that impact requires introducing digital technology inside the classroom, citing recent studies suggesting that 'maybe we should roll back a little bit on introducing too much technology in the classroom because they are simply distracting people from learning' . Ayman Essam similarly questioned whether it was 'reasonable' or made 'sense' for children to be connected only in school and disconnected at home . SOK Puthyvuth described Cambodia's focus on the learning management system as a means to transfer knowledge efficiently, but acknowledged the importance of understanding the root cause of every problem rather than assuming technology is always the answer . This cautionary note from a UN technical expert, a private sector operator, and a government official was an unexpected area of convergence.
The Indian startup founder's description of delivering responsible AI literacy to rural women educators via WhatsApp in regional languages through bite-sized videos found unexpected resonance with the approaches described by government and UN representatives. South Africa's Morwane described zero-rating government services so that people without affordable data can still access them , reflecting the same principle of meeting users where they are with the technology they already have. Hani Eskandar's argument that teachers do not need devices in every classroom but can access content through their smartphones aligned with the startup's WhatsApp-based approach. This convergence between a small startup and large institutional actors on the value of low-resource, smartphone-based approaches was unexpected.
The session demonstrated a remarkably high level of consensus across a diverse group of speakers including UN agency representatives, government officials from Kenya, Mozambique, Cambodia, and South Africa, a private sector operator, civil society, and audience members. The main areas of agreement centred on: (1) connectivity being a necessary but insufficient first step requiring a holistic digital ecosystem ; (2) sustainability beyond donor funding being a critical challenge ; (3) multi-stakeholder partnerships being essential ; (4) AI systems being culturally insensitive for non-Western learners and requiring localised solutions ; (5) open and interoperable systems being critical to avoid vendor lock-in ; (6) teacher capacity building being central to digital education ; and (7) the complementarity between GIGA and the Gateways Initiative exemplifying effective UN inter-agency cooperation . There were also unexpected areas of consensus, particularly between the private sector and government representatives on the need for enabling environments that make private investment viable, and a shared caution about over-digitalising classrooms.
Hani Eskandar explicitly argued against deploying LMS systems in schools, stating that content is fragmented, not searchable, not mapped to curriculum, and not quality-assured in LMS environments . He proposed instead a digital learning repository coded as infrastructure and accessible via APIs . By contrast, SOK Puthyvuth described Cambodia's decade-long journey to adopt precisely an LMS as the centrepiece of their national digital education strategy , stating they were convinced that 'we need to focus on a learning management system' and that they chose open-source LMS for cost reasons . Cambodia's experience was presented as a success story, directly contradicting Eskandar's recommendation to move away from LMS.
Rather than deploying LMS systems in every school, a digital learning content repository coded as infrastructure, mapped to the curriculum, and accessible via APIs is a more feasible and impactful intermediate step - Content repository as digital infrastructure (Hani Eskandar)
Cambodia's journey to adopting a national LMS took over ten years of assembling data centres, connectivity, and platform components; COVID accelerated the need, and evidence from schools that adopted technology showed measurably higher student grades - Cambodia's decade-long platform journey (SOK Puthyvuth)
Hani Eskandar explicitly stated that 'maybe we should roll back a little bit on introducing too much technology in the classroom because they are simply distracting people from learning' and cited studies suggesting it is better to learn maths with a piece of paper for cognitive development . He argued that tablets in every school are not necessary . In contrast, Ayman Essam argued that children need devices they can take home and that the whole ecosystem including home devices must be addressed . SOK Puthyvuth cited evidence that schools adopting technology showed measurably higher grades , and Mary Kerema described giving devices to schools and setting up digital labs as part of Kenya's deliberate programme . These speakers implicitly or explicitly endorsed greater technology integration in classrooms, directly at odds with Eskandar's caution.
Rather than deploying LMS systems in every school, a digital learning content repository coded as infrastructure, mapped to the curriculum, and accessible via APIs is a more feasible and impactful intermediate step - Content repository as digital infrastructure (Hani Eskandar)
The digital education ecosystem must extend beyond the school building to include home connectivity, devices that children can take home, parental digital enablement, and household economic stability - Whole ecosystem beyond the school (Ayman Essam)
Cambodia's journey to adopting a national LMS took over ten years of assembling data centres, connectivity, and platform components; COVID accelerated the need, and evidence from schools that adopted technology showed measurably higher student grades - Cambodia's decade-long platform journey (SOK Puthyvuth)
Infrastructure alone is insufficient; connected schools also require reliable electricity, affordable devices, secure networks, digital content, and capacity-built teachers - Beyond infrastructure (Mary Kerema)
Ayman Essam took a strongly market-oriented position, arguing that governments squeeze operators with excessive taxes and social contributions while simultaneously expecting investment, and that this is why countries are not developing . He called for serious decisions to enable investors to have value in the ecosystem . By contrast, Socrates Titoce and Mary Kerema framed sustainability through public mechanisms: Titoce argued that the Universal Service Fund must become an ongoing obligation to sustain school connectivity after GIGA and World Bank funding ends , while Kerema emphasised moving beyond donor support through government-led initiatives . These represent fundamentally different philosophies about whether market incentives or public mandates should drive sustainable connectivity.
Governments cannot simultaneously maximise tax revenues from operators and expect those operators to invest heavily in connectivity; policy decisions must balance investor returns with public goals - Balancing investor returns and public goals (Ayman Essam)
The Universal Service Fund must evolve from a project-based approach to an ongoing obligation ensuring sustainability of school connectivity after external funding ends - Universal Service Fund as sustainability mechanism (Socrates Titoce)
Sustainability beyond donor support is the greatest challenge; projects must be designed to continue after external support ends, with clear metrics measuring impact on children's lives and job creation - Sustainability and impact measurement (Mary Kerema)
SOK Puthyvuth expressed optimism about AI, comparing it to the calculator and stating that 'AI definitely will help in education, even with lifelong learning' . Ayman Essam, however, presented a more critical view, demonstrating through personal testing that AI responses to queries from African learners are 'Western-based, language-translated answers that are culturally insensitive' , describing this as a 'big journey' . The Codata audience member further raised concerns about the probabilistic nature of LLMs producing different responses to the same question and questioned how suitable this is for education . These positions range from cautious optimism to significant scepticism about AI's current fitness for educational purposes in non-Western contexts.
AI has the potential to support lifelong learning and education broadly, similar to how the calculator transformed mathematics education, but the balance of interests between users and owners of AI technology must be addressed - Optimism about AI for lifelong learning (SOK Puthyvuth)
AI systems trained predominantly on Western and English-language data produce culturally and linguistically insensitive responses for learners in African and other non-Western contexts, undermining the value of digital learning tools - AI cultural insensitivity problem (Ayman Essam)
A data quality expert raised concerns about validation of educational content in AI systems, noting that probabilistic LLM responses can vary and may not be reliable for educational purposes - AI reliability and content validation concerns (Audience)
Speakers identified different primary bottlenecks. Mary Kerema emphasised teacher capacity building as critical, noting teachers are 'shying off from technology' because they have not been equipped . Ayman Essam located the core problem in household economics, arguing that without food on the table, caregivers will sell devices and that enabling mothers economically is the real lever . Hani Eskandar focused on content infrastructure as the missing link . Frank van Cappelle stressed that platforms exist in schools without any learner devices . Helena Fernandes identified device affordability and high data costs as Mozambique's biggest challenges . These divergent diagnoses reflect genuinely different understandings of where intervention is most needed.
Infrastructure alone is insufficient; connected schools also require reliable electricity, affordable devices, secure networks, digital content, and capacity-built teachers - Beyond infrastructure (Mary Kerema)
The digital education ecosystem must extend beyond the school building to include home connectivity, devices that children can take home, parental digital enablement, and household economic stability - Whole ecosystem beyond the school (Ayman Essam)
Rather than deploying LMS systems in every school, a digital learning content repository coded as infrastructure, mapped to the curriculum, and accessible via APIs is a more feasible and impactful intermediate step - Content repository as digital infrastructure (Hani Eskandar)
The end goal is not to build platforms but to have impact on children's learning, including remedial education, accelerated learning, and providing lifelines for children unable to physically access school - Impact over platform-building (Frank van Cappelle)
Mozambique lacks a national digital learning platform and faces challenges of device affordability, high data costs, teacher training, and the need to digitalise curricula across many local languages - Mozambique's digital learning platform gaps (Helena Fernandes)
This disagreement was unexpected because both Hani Eskandar (from ITU/GIGA) and SOK Puthyvuth (from Cambodia, a Gateways partner country) were presenting within the same session as part of the same collaborative initiative. Eskandar explicitly stated 'instead of setting up LMSs in schools you will not do that' and described LMS content as fragmented and not mapped to curriculum . Yet SOK Puthyvuth, a Gateways member country partner, described Cambodia's entire digital education strategy as being built around choosing an LMS , with evidence of measurably higher student grades . The session moderator Mark West praised Cambodia's approach without acknowledging this tension with Eskandar's technical recommendations, making this an implicit but significant disagreement within the same collaborative framework.
The session was framed as a collaborative multi-stakeholder initiative, yet Ayman Essam delivered a pointed critique of government behaviour, stating that governments 'squeeze' operators for 'more taxes and more taxes and more taxes' while simultaneously expecting investment, and then 'wonder why countries are not developing' . He prefaced this by acknowledging he is 'politically incorrect' . This was unexpected in a session where government representatives from Kenya and Mozambique were co-panellists presenting their countries' achievements. Mary Kerema had emphasised the importance of partnerships and collaboration , and Titoce had described government-led Universal Service Fund obligations , both implicitly assuming a cooperative government-private sector relationship that Essam's remarks called into question.
It was unexpected that Hani Eskandar, a senior ITU official presenting within a session dedicated to advancing digital education, cited recent studies to argue that 'maybe we should roll back a little bit on introducing too much technology in the classroom because they are simply distracting people from learning' and that 'it's better to learn math with a piece of paper' . This directly contradicted the thrust of the session, which was premised on expanding digital education. Ayman Essam argued for devices going home with children , SOK Puthyvuth cited evidence of higher grades from technology adoption , and Mary Kerema described Kenya's programme of giving devices to schools and building digital labs . Eskandar's position was a notable outlier in a session otherwise oriented towards expanding technology access.
The session was broadly collaborative and consensus-oriented, with all speakers agreeing on the fundamental importance of school connectivity and digital education as tools for development and equity. However, beneath this surface consensus lay meaningful disagreements on: (1) the appropriate technical architecture for digital education (LMS vs. content repositories); (2) the degree to which technology should be introduced into classrooms; (3) the relative roles of market mechanisms versus public mandates in sustaining connectivity; (4) where the primary bottleneck in digital education lies (connectivity, devices, content, teacher capacity, or household economics); and (5) the current fitness of AI for educational purposes in non-Western contexts. The most significant structural tension was between ITU's technical recommendation against LMS deployment and Cambodia's successful LMS-based national strategy , which went unaddressed in the session. A secondary tension existed between Ayman Essam's market-oriented critique of government over-regulation and the government representatives' emphasis on public mandates and universal service obligations .
All speakers agreed that connectivity alone is insufficient and that school connectivity must be part of a broader ecosystem. Thomas Gürber stated that connecting schools is 'necessary, the first step in a series of steps' . Mary Kerema argued connectivity must be treated as 'national digital infrastructure' integrated into broader investments . Socrates Titoce described how Mozambique moved from connectivity-only to a holistic approach including child protection and power solutions . Ayman Essam agreed connectivity is the first enabler but argued the ecosystem must extend to homes and households [204-205, 241-245]. However, they disagreed on what the next steps should be and who should drive them, with Essam emphasising market mechanisms and household economics while Kerema and Titoce emphasised government-led public mandates.
Connectivity must be treated as national digital infrastructure integrated into broader broadband and universal access investments, not as an isolated school project - Connectivity as national infrastructure (Mary Kerema) Before and after GIGA in Mozambique (Socrates Titoce) The digital education ecosystem must extend beyond the school building to include home connectivity, devices that children can take home, parental digital enablement, and household economic stability - Whole ecosystem beyond the school (Ayman Essam) Connecting schools is a necessary first step, but must be followed by digital education systems that work in practice, with platforms, content, and services aligned together - Connectivity as a first step (Thomas Gürber)
All speakers agreed that AI's current cultural and linguistic insensitivity is a serious problem for non-Western learners. Ayman Essam demonstrated this through personal testing . Jeanette Morwane described South Africa's investment in indigenous language LLMs as a response . SOK Puthyvuth argued every country needs its own LLM . However, they diverged on solutions: Essam focused on industry-led efforts through GSMA partnerships , Morwane emphasised government R&D investment , and SOK Puthyvuth proposed making AI a digital public infrastructure . These represent market-led, state-led, and commons-based approaches respectively.
AI systems trained predominantly on Western and English-language data produce culturally and linguistically insensitive responses for learners in African and other non-Western contexts, undermining the value of digital learning tools - AI cultural insensitivity problem (Ayman Essam) South Africa is investing in research and development to build large language models using indigenous languages, preserving culture and building AI sovereignty rather than relying solely on foreign AI tools - Indigenous language LLMs for AI sovereignty (Jeanette Morwane) Every country needs its own LLM; without one, translation passes through English as an intermediary, losing cultural and linguistic fidelity, and making AI a digital public infrastructure could help balance the interests of users and owners - National LLMs as DPI (SOK Puthyvuth)
All three country representatives agreed on the importance of open, interoperable systems and avoiding vendor lock-in. Mary Kerema called for open and interoperable systems to avoid closed proprietary solutions . SOK Puthyvuth chose open-source for cost and community support reasons . Jeanette Morwane described South Africa's DPI approach as enabling an ecosystem where innovation can happen and startups can use data . However, they differed on governance: Kerema emphasised whole-of-government coordination , Morwane stressed presidential-level leadership and a dedicated digital services unit , while SOK Puthyvuth focused more on the technical choice of open-source software .
Open and interoperable systems are critical to avoid vendor lock-in and ensure sustainability, growth, and scalability of digital education initiatives - Open and interoperable systems (Mary Kerema) South Africa's DPI approach, driven from the president's office with a digital services unit coordinating all ministries, provided shared vision, cross-ministry alignment, and a pathway to sustainable cabinet-approved funding for digital education projects - DPI approach for cross-ministry coordination (Jeanette Morwane) Choosing open-source platforms was driven by cost considerations and the benefit of community-maintained standards, avoiding the expense and complexity of building bespoke systems - Open-source platform choice (SOK Puthyvuth)
Frank van Cappelle, Hani Eskandar, and Sobhi Tawil all agreed that content quality, curriculum alignment, and cultural sensitivity are essential for platforms to have genuine educational impact. Van Cappelle stressed that platforms must ensure quality, context relevance, and cultural sensitivity . Eskandar argued for curriculum-mapped, curated content accessible via APIs . Tawil described content as the 'third overlooked dimension' of the Transforming Education Summit . However, they differed on implementation: Eskandar favoured a technical infrastructure approach with APIs and coded content , while Van Cappelle and Tawil focused more on governance, normative guidance, and community learning [304-305, 729-730].
The end goal is not to build platforms but to have impact on children's learning, including remedial education, accelerated learning, and providing lifelines for children unable to physically access school - Impact over platform-building (Frank van Cappelle) Curriculum-mapped, curated, publicly accessible content repositories enable third-party innovators and AI to build culturally sensitive, curriculum-aligned educational tools on top of official government content - Enabling innovation on top of official content (Hani Eskandar) The Transforming Education Summit 2022 had three pillars – connectivity, digital competencies, and digital content – and while GIGA addresses the first, the Gateways Initiative addresses the third, overlooked dimension of public digital learning content - Three pillars of digital education (Sobhi Tawil)
- School connectivity (the GIGA Initiative) and public digital learning platforms (the Gateways Initiative) are complementary and mutually reinforcing: connectivity is a necessary first step, but meaningful digital education requires aligned platforms, curated content, and capable teachers.
- Connecting schools is far more complex than providing internet access alone; it requires reliable electricity, affordable devices, secure networks, curriculum-aligned digital content, teacher capacity building, and community-level digital enablement.
- Sustainability beyond donor and external funding is the greatest systemic challenge; school connectivity and digital education projects must be embedded in national digital infrastructure strategies, universal service mandates, and government budgets from the outset.
- A whole-of-government approach, ideally coordinated from the highest executive level, is essential to align ministries of education, ICT, finance, and others around a shared digital education vision and to secure sustainable funding.
- Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for education — comprising curriculum-mapped content repositories accessible via APIs, interoperable learner data registries, and verifiable educational credentials — offers a more feasible and scalable intermediate step than deploying Learning Management Systems in every school.
- Open and interoperable systems are critical to avoid vendor lock-in and to enable third-party innovators, including AI developers, to build culturally sensitive, curriculum-aligned tools on top of official government content.
- AI systems trained predominantly on Western and English-language data produce culturally and linguistically insensitive outputs for learners in non-Western contexts; building indigenous-language large language models is a priority for countries such as South Africa and Cambodia.
- The digital education ecosystem must extend beyond the school building to encompass home connectivity, take-home devices, parental digital enablement, and household economic stability, as children cannot benefit from school-based digital tools if they are disconnected and unsupported at home.
- Enabling caregivers — particularly mothers — with digital skills, devices, and connectivity has a demonstrated multiplier effect on the educational and economic outcomes of the entire family.
- Public digital learning platforms can serve diverse and marginalised audiences including out-of-school children, children in emergencies, children with disabilities, and linguistic minorities, and should be designed with inclusion and equity as core principles.
- The Transforming Education Summit 2022 identified three pillars — connectivity, digital competencies, and digital content — and the combined GIGA and Gateways initiatives together address all three, exemplifying effective UN inter-agency collaboration.
- Country experiences (Kenya, Mozambique, Cambodia, South Africa, Indonesia) demonstrate that successful digital education initiatives typically begin small, build on accurate school mapping and data, and scale gradually with lessons learned from pilots.
- Accurate school mapping and data collection are foundational prerequisites; countries cannot plan or fund connectivity without knowing where schools are and what conditions they face.
- Private sector participation requires a fair, competitive regulatory environment that provides investors with a viable economic return; excessive taxation and regulatory burdens deter investment and slow development.
- The Gateways Initiative, with 35 member countries, functions as a community of practice enabling countries to learn from each other's approaches to building national digital learning platforms in a rapidly evolving landscape.
“Connectivity is a national digital infrastructure... infrastructure alone is not enough. A connected school will require reliable electricity, affordable devices, a secure network, digital learning content, and teachers who have been capacity built... we need to move beyond donor support. We need to move beyond the GIGA support. GIGA is a good project, but how do we sustain it? Because beyond GIGA, we should be able to continue with the initiatives. But we are seeing projects that are dying once the support goes.”
“Governments want everything at the same time. Governments want to please people, to win votes, and they want investors to bring in money and employment and pay taxes. And then they squeeze them for more and more taxes... Then eventually, investors are not making money... And then they wonder why countries are not developing. And it's like they're always surprised... The answer is very simple. You just need to take some serious decisions to enable investors to have value in the ecosystem.”
“You have a kid that GIGA provided connectivity to in school. But then as soon as they leave school, they're completely disconnected... they have a tablet that GIGA provided with co-financing. But then as soon as the kid goes back home, they have to leave the tablet in school because it doesn't belong to them... And with parents, that if they had actually seen the device in the hands of their kid, they would take it and sell it to get a chicken or an egg... So this is where the real problem is. We think about education in terms of just a building, school, people sitting in the school, lovely kids, great picture, holding tablets. But then in reality, this tablet needs to go home with them.”
“In one of Vodafone companies, Vodafone Egypt, we thought about this particular problem — the whole ecosystem. And we realised that the problem is actually not in the child, and not in the school, and not in the connectivity. The real issue comes in the mother. So if we're able to enable the mother, the mother, by design, enables the whole family... the solution was: let's go and enable the mother. Let's provide the mother with digitisation, give the mother a handset, teach the mother a skill, let the mother make money, provide connectivity to where the mother is and where the school is.”
“Instead of setting up LMSs in schools... what is the problem with LMSs in schools? The content is so fragmented, not necessarily searchable, discoverable, accessible. It is not necessarily mapped to curriculum, and maybe even it is not quality assured... The solution is a digital learning repository that acts as a digital infrastructure for education... you code the content, you put it in a database, you map it to the curriculum, and you make it accessible through APIs... When the content is available as infrastructure, third-party innovators can access your official curriculum and build tech innovation on top of it.”
“Maybe we should roll back a little on introducing too much technology in the classroom because they are simply distracting people from learning. Studies have shown that if you do better to learn maths, it's better to learn it with a piece of paper because it gives you the cognitive capabilities to think about things.”
“AI does not consider those [African languages]. So basically, if a Kenyan boy in school, connected school with digital LMS, with a tablet that was provided by GIGA in the co-financing concept, they type in a request on a Meta AI or Google AI... the answer they will get is a Western-based, language-translated answer that is culturally insensitive to the Kenyan culture. This is the true answer. And I tested it.”
“Before GIGA, in Mozambique, we started deploying 310 schools, connected 310 schools, but it was just focused on connectivity only, just internet. We didn't think about other points without just internet. The technology was prescriptive. So it limited innovations because all the 300 schools were connected by LEO satellite systems, and there were no school mapping. But fortunately, after GIGA and World Bank partnership, we changed the methodology... we started mapping the schools... the technology now is neutrality.”
“The end goal is not to build these platforms. The end goal is to have impact for children... what we're increasingly doing is working with the countries to build these platforms to support them and guide them... but also to make sure that these are actually delivering the purpose of education, that they're actually reaching children and having an impact on their learning.”
“If the meeting is called from the president's office, everybody drops what they're doing and we work together. So the president's office then set up what we call the digital services unit and it coordinated everyone. And each minister was then given a role within the roadmap in terms of implementation... Previously, you would find that all these digital projects that were implemented in the education space, they will be piloted and remain in the pilot phase. They will not have sustainability. But now, because there's understanding around the value of digital transformation, we go collectively as the digital services unit with all the ministries to cabinet to request for funding.”
How can school connectivity projects be sustained beyond donor and initiative support, such as after GIGA funding ends?
Multiple panellists highlighted that projects often collapse once external support is withdrawn. Understanding how to embed sustainability into the design of connectivity programmes is critical to ensuring long-term impact for children and communities.
How can Universal Service Funds be restructured or mandated to provide ongoing sustainability for school connectivity after international funding ceases?
Mozambique's representative noted that the Universal Service Fund must evolve to take on an obligation for sustaining school connectivity. This raises the question of what regulatory and policy reforms are needed to make USFs effective long-term vehicles for this purpose.
How can AI large language models be made culturally sensitive and inclusive of African and other non-Western languages to serve learners in diverse contexts?
The monocultural bias of current AI systems was identified as a significant barrier to equitable digital education. Research into how to incorporate indigenous and minority languages into LLMs is essential for AI to be a genuinely useful educational tool globally.
Is there a feasible and effective way to integrate AI as a building block in a digital education DPI, alongside content repositories, data systems, and verifiable credentials?
This question directly asks whether AI can be meaningfully and safely integrated into public digital education infrastructure in a way that benefits children worldwide, particularly in the Global South, and what conditions would need to be met for this to happen.
How should quality control and validation of educational content be managed within public digital learning platforms, particularly given cultural and contextual variation?
The concept of an 'official source of truth' for educational content raises important questions about who validates content, how cultural context is accounted for, and what governance mechanisms ensure quality and accuracy across diverse national settings.
How reliable and appropriate is AI for educational use given its probabilistic nature, where the same question can yield different responses?
The non-deterministic behaviour of AI chatbots poses a challenge for educational settings where consistency and accuracy are paramount. Further research is needed into how AI outputs can be made sufficiently reliable and pedagogically sound for use in schools.
What is the sequencing and complementarity between the GIGA and Gateways initiatives, and how do they coordinate across different ministries and stakeholders?
Understanding how connectivity (GIGA) and platform/content initiatives (Gateways) interact, which comes first, and how they share stakeholders and government counterparts is essential for countries seeking to adopt a coherent digital education strategy.
How can digital education solutions be designed to work offline or in low-connectivity environments, and what role should local actors play in ensuring solutions are realistic for on-the-ground conditions?
Many schools in developing countries still lack reliable connectivity or devices. Research into offline-capable solutions and the meaningful involvement of local civil society and tech actors is needed to ensure digital education programmes are grounded in real-world constraints.
How can connectivity programmes and device deployment be better coordinated and aligned within a single integrated solution to avoid mismatches between infrastructure and hardware rollout?
Mexico's experience showed that connectivity and device programmes were historically misaligned, leading to inefficiencies. Identifying models that bundle connectivity, devices, and content into a single coordinated procurement and deployment framework is an important area for further research and policy development.
What role should universities and higher education institutions play in supporting lifelong learning in the age of AI, and what challenges and opportunities does this present?
As AI transforms the nature of work and learning, the function of universities in facilitating lifelong and continuous education needs to be reconsidered. Research into how higher education institutions can adapt their models and platforms to serve lifelong learners is increasingly important.
How can the whole-of-government approach to digital education be institutionalised so that coordination across ministries is sustained beyond individual political leadership?
Both South Africa and Kenya highlighted that cross-ministry coordination is essential but difficult to sustain. Understanding how to embed this coordination structurally, rather than relying on presidential or ministerial champions, is a key governance challenge requiring further investigation.
How can digital public infrastructure for education be designed to serve not only formal K-12 learners but also out-of-school children, children with disabilities, linguistic minorities, and lifelong learners?
The discussion highlighted that public digital learning platforms have the potential to serve diverse and marginalised groups, but that this requires deliberate design choices. Further research is needed into how inclusivity can be built into the architecture and governance of these platforms from the outset.
What are the most effective metrics and KPIs for measuring the impact of school connectivity beyond the number of schools connected, including learning outcomes, job creation, and societal transformation?
The current focus on connectivity as a metric is insufficient. Developing robust frameworks for measuring the educational and socioeconomic impact of digital education investments is essential for accountability, policy learning, and attracting sustained funding.
How can the economic and regulatory environment be reformed to enable private operators to invest sustainably in school connectivity in low-density and economically marginal areas?
The private sector's willingness to invest in connectivity depends on a viable economic model. Research into regulatory frameworks, tax incentives, spectrum policy, and blended finance mechanisms that make investment attractive without compromising public interest goals is urgently needed.
How can digital education initiatives address the broader household ecosystem, including parental digital literacy, device ownership, home connectivity, and energy access, rather than focusing solely on the school environment?
The discussion revealed that limiting digital education to the school building ignores the reality of children's lives at home. Research into holistic ecosystem approaches that extend connectivity, devices, and digital literacy to households and caregivers is needed to maximise educational impact.
How can open-source and interoperable digital learning platforms be adopted at scale to avoid vendor lock-in and ensure long-term sustainability and adaptability?
Both Kenya and Cambodia highlighted the risks of proprietary systems and the benefits of open-source approaches. Further research into best practices for adopting, maintaining, and scaling open-source educational platforms in resource-constrained environments would benefit many countries.
How should AI be governed as a form of digital public infrastructure in education to ensure that the interests of users, particularly learners in the Global South, are balanced against those of technology owners and developers?
Cambodia's Secretary of State raised the concern that decisions about AI are being made without adequate input from users. Research into governance frameworks that give countries and learners meaningful agency over AI tools used in education is a critical and underexplored area.
How can countries develop their own large language models in indigenous and national languages to build AI sovereignty and cultural relevance in education?
Both South Africa and Cambodia noted efforts to develop local LLMs, but this is resource-intensive and technically complex. Research into collaborative models, shared infrastructure, and international support mechanisms for developing linguistically and culturally appropriate AI tools is needed.
What is the appropriate role of digital technology in the classroom, given emerging evidence that excessive technology use may distract from learning, and how should this inform the design of digital education infrastructure?
Hani cited studies suggesting that introducing too much technology into classrooms may hinder rather than help learning. Further research into the optimal balance between digital and non-digital pedagogical approaches, and how infrastructure design should reflect this, is an important area for education policy.
How can child online protection and cybersecurity be systematically integrated into school connectivity programmes from the outset, rather than treated as an afterthought?
Mozambique's experience showed that early connectivity deployments lacked child protection measures. Research into how to embed safety and security standards into the design and procurement of school connectivity solutions is essential for protecting children in digital environments.