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Lasse Leponiemi

Chairman, The HundrED Foundation
first.last@hundred.org

Innovation Nation

Open Arabic AI learning that turns students into innovators

Innovation Nation addresses the lack of accessible, high-quality AI education in Arabic for school students. It combines an open digital learning platform, teacher enablement, and project-based learning to help schools introduce AI, coding, and innovation in a practical way. Students do not just learn technology, they use it to build real solutions for environmental and community challenges.

Overview

Information on this page is provided by the innovator and has not been evaluated by HundrED.

Updated April 2026
Web presence

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Countries
Students basic
Target group
Through Innovation Nation, we want to help transform education in the Arab world so it becomes more aligned with modern technology and better able to prepare students for the future. We believe schools should go beyond traditional teaching and give students practical opportunities to learn coding, artificial intelligence, innovation, and problem-solving in ways that connect to real life. Our goal is to make these opportunities accessible in Arabic so that more students can benefit, regardless of their background or school resources. We have already seen signs of this change. More than 75% of participating students said this was the first technology activity they had ever joined at school. More than 85% of teachers reported stronger entrepreneurial thinking and problem-solving among their students, and over 90% of participants said the platform made learning easier to access and use. Through Innovation Nation, we hope to help schools equip students with the skills, mindset, and confidence they need for future study paths, future jobs, and active global citizenship. We want more students in the Arab world to graduate ready to understand new technologies, adapt to change, and contribute to solving environmental and community challenges through practical innovation.

About the innovation

Why did you create this innovation?

Innovation Nation was created to address a major gap in the Arab region: while demand for future-ready skills is rising, many school students still have limited access to high-quality learning in coding, artificial intelligence, and innovation in Arabic. In many contexts, technology education remains theoretical, outdated, or disconnected from real life. Schools often lack practical content, teachers need more support, and students rarely get opportunities to build meaningful projects around real challenges.

We created Innovation Nation to make AI and innovation education more accessible, relevant, and actionable for school students. The goal was not only to teach technical concepts, but to help students become creators, problem-solvers, and innovators. We wanted to provide schools with a model that works in practice: one that combines open digital access, teacher enablement, and project-based learning, while connecting student learning to environmental and community challenges that matter in their lives.

The innovation was also designed to respond to a language and equity barrier. Much of the strongest AI education content globally is not built for Arabic-speaking school students. Innovation Nation aims to close that gap by offering a scalable Arabic learning experience that enables more students, schools, and teachers across the region to participate in future-focused education, regardless of whether they are in a high-resource or low-resource setting.

What does your innovation look like in practice?

In practice, Innovation Nation operates as a full learning ecosystem rather than a standalone course or competition. At its core is an open Arabic digital platform that provides structured learning journeys in coding, artificial intelligence, innovation, entrepreneurship, and environmental challenges. Students learn through interactive content, guided activities, and project-building tasks. Teachers are also supported through training and implementation guidance, which helps schools integrate the experience into their own context.

What makes the model distinctive is the combination of digital access and real application. Students do not stop at watching lessons. They move into hands-on problem solving, team-based project development, and presenting solutions connected to real-world issues. This helps schools move from passive technology education toward active creation and innovation.

The solution uses technology, proprietary Arabic learning content, structured implementation pathways, and project-based learning methods. It is designed to be flexible enough for different school environments while keeping quality and learner engagement high.

We have seen evidence that the model works through sustained school participation, continued platform use, strong levels of student project output, and repeated adoption across multiple contexts. The innovation has engaged thousands of students and teachers.

How has it been spreading?

Innovation Nation has spread through strategic partnerships, open digital access, and school-based implementation. Its growth has been strengthened by collaboration with the Ministry of Education in Jordan, the Ministry of Youth in Jordan, the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship in Jordan, and the Ministry of Education in Palestine, in addition to partnerships with companies, NGOs, and community organizations across the Arab world. As a result, the initiative has built a presence across nearly all Arab countries.

Over the last 1 to 2 years, some of its main achievements include reaching more than 800 schools and over 15,000 students, while proving that an Arabic AI learning model can be implemented across different contexts through a scalable digital platform.

Over the next 2 to 3 years, our goal is to see the program’s curriculum implemented across all Arab countries, expand partnerships to develop new educational content areas on the platform, and reach more than 1 million active students annually.

How have you modified or added to your innovation?

Over time, Innovation Nation has evolved from a more programmatic initiative into a more complete education ecosystem. We have expanded the depth and structure of the digital platform, improved the learner journey, and strengthened the balance between student learning, teacher support, and project-based application. We have also made the content more practical and more closely connected to real-world themes, especially environmental and community challenges.

Another important development has been improving how schools engage with the model. Instead of treating the innovation only as a one-time experience, we have moved toward a more sustainable approach that supports implementation through schools, teachers, and recurring student participation. This has helped strengthen scalability and transferability.

We have also refined the innovation based on what we learned from implementation. For example, we have worked to make the platform more accessible, the pathways clearer, and the outputs more visible through student projects and showcases. These changes have made the innovation stronger not only as a learning product, but as a model that schools can adopt, adapt, and grow over time.

If I want to try it, what should I do?

Adoption is simple. A school creates an account on the platform, receives approval, and gets a school code to onboard teachers. Teachers then register, approve or add students, access training, and begin supervising learning. Students start directly on the platform. This easy process has supported adoption across hundreds of schools in the Arab world.

Implementation steps

Create a school account
An interested school creates an account on the Innovation Nation platform and submits its basic information. Our team reviews the request, confirms the school’s participation, and activates the account so the school can begin onboarding its staff and students.
Onboard teachers with the school code
After approval, the school receives a unique school code. Teachers use this code to create their accounts and join their school on the platform. This links teachers to the correct school and gives them access to the tools needed to manage students and support implementation.
Register and approve students
Students can join in two ways: they can create their own accounts and request to join their school, or teachers can add them directly. Teachers then review and approve student access, making sure participants are linked to the right school and ready to start learning.
Train teachers and begin student learning
Teachers access training courses and implementation guidance on the platform to prepare for supervising students. Students then begin their learning journey in coding, AI, and innovation through Arabic digital courses, practical activities, and project-based learning, while teachers monitor progress and guide participation.
Develop projects and join the competition
As students progress, they work in teams to develop innovative projects that address real environmental and community challenges. Schools can then submit these projects to Innovation Nation’s competition, where students showcase their ideas, compete with peers from across the Arab world, and contribute solutions with the potential to create wider impact.

Spread of the innovation

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