MENA Digital Summer School (MENA DSS) is an international capacity-building and exchange program hosted by Candid Foundation and supported by the German federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR). It was initiated and supervised by Professor Ayad Al-Ani, a specialist on digital transformation, organisational science and the economies of developing countries, and Daniel Gerlach, the Candid Foundation’s director general and an expert on the MENA region. Leo Wigger implemented it as the head of project, assisted by Dina Khadum. The program brings together young entrepreneurs, innovators, researchers, and professionals from the MENA region and Germany who are working on projects related to digital transformation, innovation, and emerging technologies.

Digital transformation – also referred to synonymously as ‘digitisation’ and ‘digitalisation’ by economists – happens every day. Its consequences are long-lasting and dramatic, and whereas liberal European democracies are still searching for adequate policies, the MENA region seems far behind in this endeavour on a global scale. This applies to economies and employment, but also to media, civil society and the state, with the latter already challenged by multiple institutional crises, social unrest and regional conflicts.

Nevertheless, the southern and eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and the Gulf region will be strongly affected by the digital transformation of the world economy. Some countries in the MENA region depend on supplying manufacturing to global industries. Shifts in global value chains and increased automation of production processes are coming up against economies that specialise in the production of raw materials and less complex consumer and capital goods.

According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), growth in automation is already leading to significant job losses in peripheral countries. At the same time, global trade platforms in the United States and China are focusing on the consumers of these countries, thus reducing regional trade activities. North Africa in particular is affected by automation of the information and communication technology sectors, so that even high-tech sectors may provide little stimulus or even experience job losses. These and other challenges caused by the digitisation of economies can lead to economic dislocations, migration movements, and even major conflicts in the region. It may also have a detrimental impact on the most vulnerable groups, such as women and young people, who work in these sectors.

Non-inclusive digitisation may result in economic and media monopolies, surveillance states and more authoritarian rule. Much depends therefore on a digitisation of both the private and the public sector that is ethical and inclusive, strategic, and mindful of both the social contract and the risks and stakes.
Digitisation also offers an opportunity, be it to make rural locations more attractive for development, to enable more efficient and transparent administration and a fairer, more ethical use of digital tools.

Institutions in the MENA region are in the main currently unable to respond comprehensively to the economic changes described above. The outdated higher education sector has not been able to develop the necessary skills; there is a lack of networking and regional strategies to develop countermeasures. However, Europe cannot claim to have all the answers and all the policies needed to address this challenge. Digitisation offers an opportunity to do so on an equal footing and could be a starting point for cooperation between governments, societies and the private sector in the European Union’s neighbourhood - which is precisely where MENA DSS seeks to contribute. 

MENA DSS is designed to expose participants to leading academics, practitioners, entrepreneurs, and experts from Europe and the Middle East who actively use digital transformation across different sectors to strengthen and expand their projects. The program supports both for-profit and non-profit initiatives and aims to help participants refine their ideas, strengthen their methodologies, and connect with broader innovation ecosystems.

Following the success of previous editions and based on participant feedback, the 2026 edition introduces a stronger cross-regional approach by integrating German participants into the program. This expansion meets the growing demand for networking, peer exchange, and long-term collaboration between professionals from Germany and the MENA region.

The program consists of an open call for applications and a five-day in-person training week in Berlin. During the training, participants engage in interdisciplinary workshops, expert-led sessions, collaborative exercises, and discussions with stakeholders from academia, politics, civil society, and the private sector.

A key new component of the 2026 edition is the Co-Creation Lab, a post-training phase where selected teams continue developing their projects through mentorship, expert guidance, and collaborative project-building sessions. The goal is to move beyond knowledge exchange and support participants in transforming ideas into more concrete and sustainable initiatives. At the end of the Co-Creation phase, one selected project will receive a grant to support its further development.

The program welcomes projects from a wide range of fields, including artificial intelligence, education, journalism, financial technology, art and culture, multimedia, science, advocacy, social innovation, and civic technology. Since its launch, MENA DSS has supported nearly 60 projects across the MENA region and has collaborated with institutions such as the German Mittelstand, Einstein Center Digital Future, the Centre for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS), the Circular Valley Institute, the University of Hagen, Der Divan, and the Barenboim–Said Akademie.

MENA DSS brings together academic exchange, practical training, mentorship, and ecosystem building to strengthen cross-regional collaboration and support the next generation of innovators shaping the future of digital transformation between Germany and the MENA region.

On behalf of the Candid Foundation, the authors would like to thank numerous experts and cooperation partners from the following institutions who have shared valuable advice and insight and contributed to the project’s success:

• Agence française de développement
• Arab Reform Initiative
• Augmania
• Auswärtiges Amt, Babbel
• Barenboim-Said Akademie, Bertelsmann Stiftung
• BMW Stiftung Herbert Quandt
• CIVICA
• DAAD
• Deutscher Bundestag (Party groups of Alliance 90/The Greens, CDU/CSU, FDP, SPD)
• Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, Education Outcomes Fund
• Einstein Center Digital Future
• EMA, European Commission
• Fernuniversität in Hagen
• Fieldfisher
• Ghorfa
• GIZ
• Hertie School of Governance
• Institute of Finance Basil Fouleihan
• Iraqi Parliament
• iRights.Lab
• King’s College London
• Office of Former German President Christian Wulff
• Robert-Bosch Stiftung
• Senatskanzlei Berlin
• Smart Africa Secretariat
• Spanish Foreign ­Office
• Stiftung Digitale Chancen
• Tunisian Startups
• ZDF and many more.