On February 13, 2026, in collaboration with NURTURE project, Hawassa University organized a Policy Dialogue seminar on “Artificial Intelligence in Education: Emerging Trends, Ethical Considerations, and Future Pathways (Global and Ethiopian Context)” at Institute of Technology (IOT). The Guest Speaker was Dr. Fitsum Deriba (PhD), an Independent Scholar at the University of Eastern Finland, and Assistant Professor at Wachemo University.
In his opening remark, Dr. Mihret Dananto, Scientific Director of the Institute of Technology raised the pivotal role of Artificial Intelligence in the Digital Ethiopia 2030 Strategy. He also raised emerging challenges of digital infrastructure, data sovereignty and curriculum renovation to minimize increased risks of dependency on Artificial Intelligence tools in teaching and learning.
Dr. Fistum Deriba’s presentation addressed AI emerging uses in personalized learning & adaptive tutoring, AI-powered assessment & feedback, and intelligent tutoring system. Moreover, he took time to outline the importance of AI for accessibility & inclusion and the roles in learning analytics,and to discuss ethics, bias and academic integrity issues of AI in Education. There were more than 60 instructors and students in attendance, a third of which were females. The panel discussion that followed-up attracted many engaging comments, questions and feedback in relation to infrastructure reality of Ethiopia and the AI, data sovereignty, and national and institutional AI policies for education. The policy dialogue seminar concluded with identification of three thematic areas – challenges, opportunities and initiation of southern Ethiopia universities’ cluster AI collaboration as immediate policy brief areas and assignment of focal persons.
The seminar was co-organized by the NURTURE Project in collaboration with the Faculty of Informatics of Hawassa University.
Below you can see some photos from the seminar:
