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WAAA Weekly AI Briefing

WAAA WEEKLY BRIEFING

For AI Academies and Universities Teaching AI — with a focus on Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Week ending Saturday 4 July 2026 | Published by WAAA

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Webinar Update

Webinar W007 on Digital Infrastructure — The Foundation that AI Needs was completed on Saturday 4 July 2026. A video on this topic will be uploaded soon to our YouTube channel @AIGrandad999.alanross and to our 10 language-specific channels (e.g. @AIGrandad999.alanross.Spanish, @AIGrandad999.alanross.Hindi, etc.), where there are now over 20 long and 12 short videos on each channel covering the AI and technology disruptions that will affect your country. We encourage you to view and share these with your networks and to ask them to subscribe so they are notified whenever a new video is uploaded.

Our next free webinar, W008, is planned for Saturday 18 July at 1pm Dublin on the topic: “SDG 2 — Zero Hunger: How Will AI Help Us Achieve This?” For AI academies, this webinar will highlight the practical AI applications - from crop monitoring to early-warning systems for food crises - that your curricula can incorporate, and the research partnerships available in agri-tech AI.

Register for W008 Here

📋 THIS WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS

Africa | AI Labs & Vocational Training

1. GOOGLE OPENS AN APPLIED AI LAB IN ACCRA- AND A ROUTE INTO VOCATIONAL AI TRAINING

Google Cloud's inaugural Africa Summit (Johannesburg, 1 July) included two announcements of direct relevance to AI academies. First, Africa's first applied AI lab is opening in Accra, run jointly by the Google AI Futures Fund, Google Research and venture partners, pairing local founders and researchers with Google's teams and early access to frontier models (applications close 31 August 2026). Second, Google's economic and community development programme is partnering with WeThinkCode to build a digital innovation centre at a TVET college in Soweto — a deliberate move into vocational-track AI training rather than university-only programmes. A separate partnership with the Akuna Group brings over $1 million in creative AI education to underrepresented African creators.

Why this matters for AI academies: These are concrete, fundable models WAAA academies can replicate or plug into directly. The Accra lab is explicitly seeking research partners; the Soweto TVET partnership shows a major AI company is now prepared to fund vocational, not just university, AI training. Academies should investigate whether their institution, or a national TVET partner, can pitch for similar backing, and should note the 31 August Accra deadline if research collaboration interests your faculty.

Source: Technext — technext24.com
Global | Digital Divide & Policy

2. AI FOR GOOD GLOBAL COMMISSION LAUNCHES — DIGITAL DIVIDE NAMED AS THE CORE PROBLEM

The newly launched AI for Good Global Commission (Geneva, 2 July 2026) named bridging the digital divide as one of its central aims, noting that 2.2 billion people — a quarter of humanity — remain offline and cut off from AI's benefits. The Commission, co-chaired by Rwanda's President Kagame and Salesforce's Marc Benioff, brings together more than 40 founding members, including UNESCO's Director-General and government ministers from several African and Asian countries.

Why this matters for AI academies: This is exactly the argument WAAA has made in our own webinars: without connectivity and infrastructure, AI education cannot reach the students who need it most. Our own W007 webinar this week, Digital Infrastructure — The Foundation that AI Needs, covered this same territory. Academies can cite the Commission's own framing — “2.2 billion offline” — when making the case to national governments that AI curricula and connectivity investment must be planned together, not separately.

Source: Salesforce Newsroom — salesforce.com/news
Global | AI Governance & Development

3. GENEVA'S 'AI WEEK' OPENS 6 JULY WITH A DEDICATED TRACK ON AI FOR THE GLOBAL SOUTH

The inaugural UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance (6–7 July) and the ITU AI for Good Global Summit (7–10 July) will together bring more than 11,000 participants from 169 countries to Geneva's Palexpo, with a policy agenda that explicitly includes a track on AI for development in the Global South. The summit floor will feature over 200 technology demonstrations spanning humanoid robots, brain-computer interfaces and quantum systems.

Why this matters for AI academies: This is the largest gathering of AI policy, research and education stakeholders of the year, and it opens the week immediately after this newsletter. Academies with the means to send a delegate, even virtually where sessions are livestreamed, should do so — it is a rare opportunity to bring back partnership leads and see first-hand which AI-for-development tools are furthest along. Dr Alan Ross, president will be attending the Summit so contact me if you are there.

Source: UNESCO — unesco.org
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Save the Date & Membership

Webinar 8

SDG 2 — Zero Hunger: How Will AI Help Us Achieve This?

Saturday 18 July 2026
1:00pm Dublin (IST)

For AI academies, this webinar will highlight the practical AI applications - from crop monitoring to early-warning systems for food crises - that your curricula can incorporate, and the research partnerships available in agri-tech AI. Free to attend.

Register now to book your free place

Not yet a WAAA member?

WAAA is building a global network of AI academies, universities and educators committed to sharing resources and jointly developing AI courses, with a particular focus on LMIC countries.

  • Members receive this free weekly briefing, invitations to our twice-monthly webinars, access to our AI-agent developer and AI advocates networks, and opportunities to participate in our in-country projects and initiatives.
  • Academy membership from €50/year.

WAAA country coordinators receive large discounts on fees and income-generating opportunities. Contact Alan at alan.ross@waaa.academy.

Soon these newsletters and other WAAA benefits will be available only to WAAA members. Join now. Don't miss out!

>>> www.waaa.academy