Financing Mediterranean AI Capacity: Talent, Data, and Compute

Event Details

• Date & Time: 27 November 2025, 17:00 CET (See other timezones)
• Format: Virtual via Zoom (Join Link | Meeting ID: 862 7212 8063)
• RSVP: Register on Luma

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About

A civil-society–led, multistakeholder dialogue as part of the Barcelona+30 process context and aligned with the forthcoming Pact for the Mediterranean’s inclusive process, this session aims to bridge the region’s AI divide and strengthen regional integration. Building on EuroMedAI’s UNGA-80 snapshot of AI capacity across the Southern Mediterranean—and guided by the UN Secretary-General’s report on innovative voluntary financing options for AI capacity-building as well as the WSIS+20 review zero draft—the event convenes policymakers, CSOs, academia, startups, funders, banks, and technical partners to continue the conversation and broaden participation. Through an interactive dialogue on financing AI capacity, with a practical focus on talent, data, and compute, participants will brainstorm realistic, actionable pathways and voluntary financing mechanisms that can strengthen AI capacity across the Mediterranean while promoting inclusion, interoperability, and cross-border cooperation.

​In commemoration of the Barcelona Process’ 30th anniversary, the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) will convene the 10th UfM Regional Forum under the banner “Together for a Stronger Euro-Mediterranean Partnership.” The Barcelona+30 moment is a region-wide opportunity to shape the next phase of Euro-Mediterranean cooperation. In parallel, the EU’s proposed Pact for the Mediterranean, expected to be endorsed in November 2025, sets three pillars that prioritize more integrated and inclusive economies, trusted digital infrastructure, and scaled legal pathways for talent partnerships, with an Action Plan due in Q1 2026. ​As part of the run-up to these processes, EuroMedAI presented a snapshot of AI capacity across the Southern Mediterranean at a side event during UNGA-80 (September 2025).

To continue the conversation and broaden participation, EuroMedAI is convening an interactive, multistakeholder dialogue  to surface proposed actions and innovative financing pathways that build AI capacity and narrow the region’s AI divide. Structured around three tracks, Data, Compute, and Talent, the session will generate actionable proposals to strengthen AI capabilities across the Common Mediterranean Space.Through this event, we will inform police makers with actions to be adopted in the framework of the Pact for the Mediterranean, the UfM’s new regional strategy, and complementary national strategies across our Common Mediterranean Space.

Speakers

• Mohamed Kais Dhaoui, AI Hub Analyst, Digital, AI and Innovation Hub, United Nations Development Programme
• Silvia Vacchi, Training Development Officer, International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
• Soraya Kouadri, Senior Lecturer in Computing – AI Governance/Literacy, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
• Khaled Koubaa, CEO, AT Worthy AI & Digital, Governance Architect Ex-META
• Catherine Schneider, Policy Researcher at interface Ex, Mozilla and Ex-UNHCR
• Menna Badr, Plug and Play Tech Center, Egypte

Target Participants

• Policy makers
• Civil society
• Think tanks
• Banks
• Startups / MSMEs
• Tech hubs
• DFIs
• Philanthropy
• Corporates