The MENA Digital Summer School (MENA DSS) is an international capacity-building and exchange program hosted by the Candid Foundation. 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.
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.