How might we move from one-off partnerships to structured, long-term alliances between governments, industry, and academia?
How might we move from one-off partnerships to structured, long-term alliances between governments, industry, and academia?
Multi-stakeholder collaboration is considered an important cornerstone of responsible AI in education (OECD, 2023; World Bank), but sustaining those collaborations can be a challenge.
EdTech Hub’s AI Observatory is exploring how ministries of education can align partnerships – which means driving equitable outcomes through purposeful collaboration and collective action.
This week, in Issue No. 26 of the #WaypointWednesday, we spotlight digital public infrastructure, multi-country alignment, and efforts to remedy “pilotitis”.
Early signals
Aligning incentives by positioning AI as a digital public good
We’re seeing AI in education approached in the spirit of digital public infrastructure, with a focus on common benefit and stewardship, which supports collaborations aimed at strengthening long-term educational outcomes rather than narrow commercial goals.
- India – Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA): A national school platform built on an open-source infrastructure that the government positions as a digital public good for broad reuse and adaptation. The government of India is actively working to integrate AI capabilities into the platform to enhance its utility and impact. (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2023; India Press Information Bureau, 2025)
- Africa – UNDP GROW framework: UNDP AI Hub’s four-pronged ‘GROW’ approach for strengthening local AI ecosystems through collective action: Guide, Renew, Orchestrate and Weave. The fourth emphasises weaving shared public goods to enhance transparency and innovation. (UNDP, 2024)
Frameworks and programmes for multi-country alignment
Working together at regional and international levels helps partners combine resources, share practical knowledge, and develop policies and standards that support coherent approaches to AI in education across jurisdictions. (Molina et al., 2024)
- Southeast Asia – Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) INNOTECH Regional Forum: SEAMEO regularly convenes educators and policymakers to align on EdTech. Last month, EdTech Hub sat down with Datuk Dr Habibah Abdul Rahim, Director of the SEAMEO Secretariat, to unpack what authentic collaboration looks like – watch the recording on the EdTech Hub YouTube Channel. (EdTech Hub, 2025; SEAMEO, 2025)
- Global – UNESCO’s Recommendation on the Ethics of AI: Adopted by all 193 member states in 2021 after an extensive consultation process, this Recommendation offers principles that help education systems draw on a common reference point, which supports alignment of policy and practice across borders. (UNESCO, 2021; GIRAI, 2024)
Developing more sustainable testbeds
Testbeds bring providers, government, teachers, and parents together to trial tools in controlled settings and understand what works before wider use. However, a persistent issue is “pilotitis”, where small trials never progress to full implementation.
- Qatar – WISE AI EdTech TestBed: The testbed brings together schools, policymakers and edtech providers to collaboratively and iteratively shape future education strategies, testing progressive pedagogy and AI tools in authentic classroom settings. (OpenDevEd; WISE)
- Global – Global EdTech Testbed Network: Supported by the Jacobs Foundation, this is a collaborative effort to create a learning community that helps build shared understanding of methods, structures and systemic supports that enhance the quality of edtech testbeds in high-, middle- and low-resource contexts. (Global EdTech Testbed Network)
Reflections:
- While evaluating AI tools with teachers is essential, our “Let’s Talk AI” roundtable sessions found that teachers can feel like classrooms have become “testing grounds’ (Session 4, Speaker 18), especially with the fast-changing pace of AI that requires ongoing retesting without reaching a steady state.
- Along with formal policies and processes, trust between stakeholders is key. EdTech Hub Specialist, Shakil Ahmed, writes in his three-part series on AI and education: “without trust, networks collapse into competition, delivery units become turf wars, and frameworks gather dust.” (Dhaka Tribune, 2025)
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We’d love to hear from you! What’s been shaping your thinking on AI? Drop your thoughts (and reading recommendations) in the comments. Explore more from EdTech Hub’s AI Observatory.
EdTech Hub’s AI Observatory is made possible with the support of the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
