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Good practice Imported

AI Summer School — Al Akhawayn University and MoroccoAI's Multi-Sector AI Talent Pipeline

Morocco · Ifrane · See the Morocco profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 59% 47/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Since 2023, Al Akhawayn University and MoroccoAI have run an annual AI Summer School in Ifrane, growing from 50 selected participants (of 360 applicants) to hundreds of attendees from Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas, with a dedicated Women in AI track.

50 participants
Participants selected (2023 edition) (2023)
360 applicants
Applicants (2023 edition) (2023)
20,000 dirhams
Hackathon prize pool (2023 edition) (2023)
hundreds of participants
Attendance (2025 edition) (2025)
3 editions
Editions run (2023–2025)

Details

Maturity
Scaling
Promoter
Al Akhawayn University / MoroccoAI
Period
2023–2025 (3 editions, ongoing)
Keywords
higher education, AI industry, NGO

Context

Al Akhawayn University (AUI) in Ifrane, Morocco, partners with the NGO MoroccoAI to run an annual AI Summer School bringing together students, graduates and working professionals for a week of lectures, mentored team projects and a judged hackathon. The inaugural edition ran 17–21 July 2023, and by the third edition (25–30 August 2025) the event had grown into an internationally attended gathering.

Objectives

The programme aims to build a multi-sector AI talent pipeline in Morocco, exposing participants to applied AI projects, responsible-AI principles and cross-border mentorship from academia and industry.

Activities

The 2023 edition selected 50 participants from 360 applicants, who worked with mentors from academia and industry — including IMT Atlantique and IBM — and competed for a 20,000-dirham prize pool; the winning team addressed water-resource safeguarding. By 2025, themed 'Responsible AI: Designing with Safety, Fairness and Impact,' the programme featured speakers from Microsoft's AI for Good Lab, Google DeepMind, IBM and Ericsson, linked into the pan-African AFRETEC engineering network, and added a dedicated Women in AI track alongside the judged hackathon.

Results

Attendance grew from 50 selected participants (out of 360 applicants) in 2023 to hundreds of students, researchers and professionals from Morocco, other African countries, Europe, the Americas and Asia by the 2025 edition.

Conclusions

The evidence is descriptive rather than outcome-based: public reporting covers attendance, selection ratios and hackathon results, but no formal pre/post learning assessment has been published, and the competitive selection process (360 to 50 applicants in 2023) means reach, while internationally diverse, is not broad-access.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k)
Time to results
Short (< 1 year)
Staffing & skills
Al Akhawayn University faculty and organisers, MoroccoAI NGO coordination team, Mentors from academia and industry (IMT Atlantique, IBM, Microsoft AI for Good Lab, Google DeepMind, Ericsson)

Conditions for success

  • University campus and residential facilities in Ifrane to host a week-long intensive programme
  • International partner network to supply speakers, mentors and judges
  • Prize funding to incentivise the hackathon (20,000-dirham pool in 2023)

Common failure modes

  • Highly competitive selection (360 to 50 applicants in 2023) limits broad-access reach
  • No formal pre/post learning assessment has been published

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes Philanthropic / foundation funding

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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