National AI Strategy Sprint

A 5‑Week Sprint from CentPol - Center for Emerging and Next Tech Policy, Strategy & Foresight

Format: Hybrid (curated readings + live discussion + async exercises) Duration: 5 weeks + optional Week 2.5 deep dive Target audience: Government officials, policymakers, analysts, strategists, educators, civil society, industry policy teams, AI enthusiasts - **Register For The Sprint Here**.

Why this program and why now (2026 edition)

Artificial intelligence has moved from the lab to the core of national power. It shapes economic growth, security, public services, and a country’s position in global alliances.

Governments that act with clarity and speed are setting rules and capturing value; those that hesitate become rule-takers instead of rule-makers. A National AI Strategy is how a country decides what it wants from AI - and how it plans to get there responsibly.

Many strategies fail in predictable ways:

• Too vague: “We will be a leader in AI.”
• Too narrow: a list of tech projects without compute reality, institutional machinery, labor impacts, or metrics.
• Too copy-paste: imported models that ignore infrastructure gaps, power constraints, limited compute access, and geopolitical trade-offs.

CentPol’s National AI Strategy Sprint is designed to close that gap. Over 5 weeks, we will discuss the 9 canonical pillars found in the most effective strategies worldwide, practice applying them, and assemble a concise strategy memo you can use with real decision‑makers.

The 2026 moment is different. Regional coordination is maturing (AU, ASEAN). New model-efficiency breakthroughs have lowered barriers to adoption and experimentation. AI safety capacity-building is spreading beyond western states. This creates real space for African and Global South countries to shape outcomes in their own context, rather than implementing someone else’s blueprint.

What this sprint delivers

By the end of the program, participants can:

• Decode any national AI strategy into its core building blocks and spot missing pieces.
• Design an implementable strategy that includes compute, data, institutions, labor impacts, and geopolitics - not just R&D and ethics.
• Produce decision-ready outputs: a 2-page strategy memo and a short oral pitch that can survive senior leadership attention spans.

No coding background required. This is built for people who work with technology policy and strategy, not necessarily inside engineering teams.

Who this program is for

This sprint is designed for:

• Government officials and advisers working on AI, digital, innovation, industrial, economic, or security policy
• Think tanks, NGOs, and international organizations supporting national strategy and implementation
• Industry associations, telecom/compute ecosystem stakeholders, and technology policy teams
• Academics and educators supporting public policy and technology governance
• Practitioners across Africa, Southeast Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, South Asia, and other Global South contexts
• Voices in AI Safety, AI Ethics, AI Policy & Governance

Program format and time commitment

• Weekly time: ~2–3 hours reading + ~1 hour live session + ~1 hour independent writing/exercise

• Live sessions: 60 minutes weekly
• Cohort mode: discussion + structured exercises + peer review
• Final deliverables:
• 2-page National AI Strategy Memo (context-aware, implementation-focused)
• 3-minute oral pitch (no slides required)

The CentPol 9-Pillar Framework

Across effective strategies - resource-rich and resource-constrained, a common architecture appears again and again. CentPol organizes it into nine pillars:

1. Vision & Narrative What future is the country aiming for, and why now?

1. Compute & Digital Infrastructure Cloud, data centers, connectivity, energy constraints, and the sovereignty-vs-access

1. Data Governance & Public Data Assets Data quality, interoperability, privacy, trusted sharing arrangements, and sovereignty

1. Talent, Skills & R&D Ecosystem Researchers and practitioners, AI literacy, research institutions, and brain drain

1. Priority Sectors & Public Sector Transformation Clear choices about where to apply AI first—and how government operations modernize.

1. Governance, Ethics, Rights & Safety Rules, standards, oversight, accountability, and safety capacity.

1. Institutions, Coordination & Implementation Machinery The offices, agencies, councils, and delivery mechanisms that actually run the strategy.

1. International Engagement & Geopolitics Alliances, standards, export controls, cross-border research, regional frameworks, multi-alignment.

1. Monitoring, Metrics & Review Indicators, timelines, review cycles, and course-correction mechanisms.

This sprint uses the 9-pillar map every week. Participants don’t just learn the framework—they practice applying it until it becomes reusable.

At-a-glance curriculum

• Week 1: Global landscape + “why now” narrative (Africa/Global South centrality)
• Week 2: Strategy architecture using the 9 pillars (comparative mapping)
• Week 2.5 (optional): Constraints + leapfrogging + resource allocation under realism
• Week 3: The engines - compute, data, institutions (execution reality)
• Week 4: Application - sectors, society, labor impacts, international stance
• Week 5: Metrics + iteration + final strategy memo + pitch

WEEK-BY-WEEK PROGRAM (2026)

Week 1 — The landscape: vision and the “why now”

Goal: Understand the global AI landscape and write a crisp, context-grounded vision and urgency narrative.

Core readings (public):

• **African Union:** Continental AI Strategy (Executive Summary + structure)
• *What it is:* The AU’s continent-wide AI strategy: a shared framing, priority areas, and coordination logic intended to guide national strategies and regional cooperation.
• *Why it matters:* It is the closest thing to a “reference architecture” for African AI agency (sovereignty, inclusion, capacity building), and it makes regional alignment a strategic asset rather than a constraint.
• *Contribution:* Anchors us in Africa-first premises: what “good” looks like when infrastructure gaps, data extraction risk, and regional bargaining power are front-and-center.
• **Stanford HAI**: AI Index Report (latest available edition, Executive Summary)
• A short, visual overview of global trends in AI capabilities, investment, regulation, and public opinion.
• *Why it matters:* Gives you real numbers to ground your narrative: who is ahead, where investment is flowing, what is changing fastest.
• *Contribution:* Helps you justify urgency and opportunity in your own context (“here is where we stand and what we risk if we wait”).
• **OECD: AI Principles** (summary)
• *What it is:* A concise set of internationally agreed principles on trustworthy AI (fairness, robustness, transparency, accountability, human‑centered values).
• *Why it matters:* Many national strategies explicitly reference or align with these principles; they form a widely recognized normative baseline.
• *Contribution:* Gives you language and concepts you can safely reuse in any democratic or multilateral context.
• **Carnegie (Africa program):** Africa’s AI governance landscape (policy-practice framing) (Carnegie Endowment)
• *What it is:* A policy-to-practice mapping of African AI governance: what strategies say vs. what states actually fund, build, and enforce.
• *Why it matters:* It stress-tests “strategy as a PDF.” It pushes participants to confront institutional capacity, budgets, and execution—where most national strategies fail.
• *Contribution:* Supplies the Sprint’s realism: the “implementation gap” becomes a first-class topic from Week 1, not an afterthought.

Exercise — The PostCard: Write a “postcard from 2030” from the perspective of your chosen country describing:

• One visible change AI has made to everyday citizen experience.
• One institutional change in government that made this possible.
• One regional or international shift where their country now has more voice.

Under the postcard, extract:

• 3 concrete “proof points” that must be true by 2028 for that 2030 story to be credible.
• 3 risks if the country does nothing (linked to AU, AI Index, and Carnegie readings).

Live session (60 minutes): cohort share-outs + pattern synthesis + “why now” drafting clinic. You will revisit this “postcard” in later weeks to see how your understanding deepens.

Week 2 — The architecture: learning the 9-pillar map

Goal: Learn how strong strategies are structured, and how context reshapes pillar emphasis. Core readings (public):

• **Singapore: National AI Strategy 2.0** (Executive Summary + systems approach)
• *What it is:* Singapore’s updated AI strategy, structured around national “systems” and enabling foundations (talent, compute, data, governance).
• *Why it matters:* Frequently cited as one of the most coherent and actionable AI strategies, with concrete actions, responsible agencies, and timelines.
• *Contribution:* A live example of pillars 1–7 in action: vision, sectors, talent, data/compute, institutions, and governance are clearly distinguished.
• **Kenya: Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2025–2030**
• *What it is:* Kenya’s national strategy framing priorities across enabling environment, skills, sectoral application, governance, and regional positioning. (Official distribution may vary across government portals/mirrors.)
• *Why it matters:* It is a flagship African case for balancing ambition with constraints (compute access, talent retention, mobile-first realities).
• *Contribution:* An “African-led strategy design” anchor - use it to surface what changes when infrastructure and fiscal space are binding constraints.
• **African Union**: Continental AI Strategy (reference for regional alignment)
• **ASEAN: Guide on AI Governance and Ethics** (regional governance baseline)
• *What it is:* A regional governance guide (principles + practical guidance) intended to harmonize approaches while allowing national variation.
• *Why it matters:* It is the best comparative example of “regional coordination without full legal harmonization,” relevant to AU ambitions.
• *Contribution:* Gives us a concrete model for how regions can reduce fragmentation, share capacity, and coordinate standards.

How to use: Extract mechanisms (mutual recognition ideas, shared testing norms, capacity support) that AU/regional blocs can adapt.

Exercise — Pillar mapping (1 page): Map Singapore + Kenya + AU against the 9 pillars:

• Which pillars are explicit vs implicit
• Where emphasis is high/medium/low
• What’s missing
• What the omissions reveal about context, not competence

Live session (60 minutes): facilitated live mapping + small group mapping + report-outs.

Week 2.5 (Optional Deep Dive) — Constraints, leapfrogging, and realistic budgets

This is a single optional module. It is not a recurring half-week.

Goal: Practice strategy under real constraints: power reliability, limited compute, talent scarcity, donor dependence, and political time horizons.

Core readings (public):

• World Bank: [Digital Progress and Trends Report 2025](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/8f5d2cb9-92d4-42fd-a4ad-fa538f081488) (AI foundations focus)
• *What it is:* A World Bank synthesis on digital development progress, constraints, and policy levers relevant to DPI, connectivity, and public sector modernization.
• *Why it matters:* It is a practical “state capacity + infrastructure” reference - exactly where AI strategies collapse if ignored.
• *Contribution:* Strengthens the Sprint’s foundation layer: DPI, service delivery, and institutional feasibility before AI glamor.
• ASEAN: Expanded Guide (Generative AI supplement) (ASEAN Main Portal)

• ### **CSIS — *From Divide to Delivery:*** *How AI Can Serve the Global South*

• *What it is:* A Global South–focused analysis of AI opportunity, delivery constraints, and pathways for responsible deployment.
• *Why it matters:* It treats “AI for development” as implementation work (institutions, delivery, procurement, capacity), not demo theater.
• *Contribution:* Provides a delivery-oriented counterweight to strategy documents that over-index on aspiration.

Live session (90 minutes optional): interactive comparison of strategy under real constraints.

Week 3 — The engines: compute, data, and institutions

Goal: Separate three commonly muddled topics - compute, data, institutions - and design each realistically.

Core readings (public):

• **Tony Blair Institute:** compute/infrastructure as strategic asset (selected sections)
• *What it is:* A policy argument that compute/digital infrastructure functions like strategic national infrastructure, shaping competitiveness and state capacity.
• *Why it matters:* It reframes compute from “IT spend” into “industrial + security infrastructure,” which changes budgeting and governance.
• *Contribution:* Sharpens Pillar 2 (compute) with a governance and investment rationale policymakers recognize.
• *How to use:* Use its framing to justify why compute decisions belong in the national strategy memo.
• **World Bank: AI foundations and digital infrastructure** framing (2025 report)
• *What it is:* A World Bank synthesis on digital development progress, constraints, and policy levers relevant to DPI, connectivity, and public sector modernization.
• *Why it matters:* It is a practical “state capacity + infrastructure” reference - exactly where AI strategies collapse if ignored.
• *Contribution:* Strengthens the foundation layer: DPI, service delivery, and institutional feasibility before AI glamor.
• How to use: Pull the constraints checklist (connectivity, payments/ID rails, gov data maturity) as prerequisites for sector pilots.
• **UK Government: Introducing the AI Safety Institute** (institutional model)
• *What it is:* A description of the AISI’s role, mandate, and rationale as a national AI safety capability.
• *Why it matters:* It shows what a “real” institution looks like (scope, interfaces, credibility), not just “we will ensure safety.”
• *Contribution:* Upgrades Pillar 7 (institutions) and Pillar 6 (safety) from principles into implementable machinery.
• *How to use:* Use it as a pattern library: testing, evaluation, incident response, cross-government coordination.
• **African Union:** Continental AI Strategy (data governance and coordination)

Exercise — Institutional wiring diagram (2 pages max): Design an institutional structure that could actually run:

• Strategy ownership (who leads, where it sits, reporting line)
• Delivery mechanism (how sector ministries execute, not just “coordinate”)
• A “first 100 days” action plan with 3 concrete deliverables

Live session (60 minutes): institutional designs compared; failure modes identified; “minimum viable institution” principle emphasized.

Week 4 — Application: sectors, society, and international stance

Goal: Make hard choices: priority sectors, labor/inclusion impacts, and international positioning. Core readings (public):

• **Singapore NAIS 2.0** sector systems sections (how real strategies pick use-cases)
• *What it is:* A mature, operational strategy organized around “key systems” and enabling foundations; often used as a gold-standard example of clarity and implementability.
• *Why it matters:* It demonstrates what “implementation-ready” looks like: institutions, responsible actors, and coherent sequencing.
• **MIT ICEBERG:** work and skills impacts framing (overview hub)
• *What it is:* A research platform tracking how AI changes tasks, jobs, and skill demand (with tools and evidence summaries).
• *Why it matters:* It helps you stop guessing about labor impact and start structuring it (who gains, who loses, where, when).
• *Contribution:* Makes “future of work” a measurable pillar with design implications for training and social protection.
• *Use:* Translate insights into one concrete labor mitigation per priority sector.
• **AU Continental AI Strategy:** sovereignty and development emphasis
• Short explainer on AI geopolitics and international coordination The AI Governance Arms Race - From Summit Pageantry to Progress In Which Areas of Technical AI Safety Could Geopolitical Rivals Cooperate- https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2025/04/in-which-areas-of-technical-ai-safety-could-geopolitical-rivals-cooperate?

Exercise — Priority and posture (1–2 pages): For a chosen country/context:

• Select 2–3 priority sectors and define one specific Year-1 use case per sector (not generic “AI in health”).
• Identify one labor/inclusion risk per sector and one mitigation (skills, transition support, job creation, or complementary deployment).
• Write a short international stance paragraph: regional alignment + vendor diversification + sovereignty red lines + standards participation.

Live session (60 minutes): sector choices justified; international stances stress-tested

Week 5 — Synthesis: metrics, iteration, and the strategy memo

Goal: Turn learning into a decision-ready memo and a short spoken briefing. Build an adaptive strategy, not a static document.

Core readings (public):

• OECD work on monitoring AI policies and capability indicators Link: https://oecd.ai/en/data-from-partners

• *What it is:* Dashboards and reports that track how countries are putting AI principles into practice and how capabilities are evolving.
• *Why it matters:* Shows how metrics and indicators can be used to track progress and inform policy adjustments.
• *Contribution:* Supports pillar 9 (Monitoring, metrics & review).
• Harvard Kennedy School: [How to Write a Policy Memo](https://www.hks.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/Academic%20Dean%27s%20Office/communications_program/digital_resources/lb_revised_1_31_18_lb_how_to_pol_mem.pdf) (format discipline)
• *What it is:* A short, practical guide on writing decision‑oriented policy memos.
• *Why it matters:* Senior leaders often make decisions based on 1–2 page briefs, not long reports.
• *Contribution:* Gives you a clear format for your final deliverable and future work.
• **World Bank 2025 report** (metrics and foundations framing)

Week Five deliverables:

1. 2-page National AI Strategy memo draft (decision-ready)
2. Bottom line (clear ask)
3. Context (“why now” grounded in reality)
4. Strategy summary across the 9 pillars (tight, not exhaustive)
5. Implementation plan (Year 1–2 detail; Year 3–5 direction)
6. Budget logic (what is funded first and why)
7. Risks + mitigations + pivot points
8. Metrics (3–5 that drive behavior, not vanity)
9. 3-minute oral pitch
10. 30 seconds: why now
11. 60 seconds: top strategic choices
12. 60 seconds: implementation + what you need approved
13. 30 seconds: closing line (memorable, not inflated)

Live session (90 minutes): memo workshop + peer review + pitch practice

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Final deliverables:

You will write a 2‑page memo to a head of government, CEO, or similar decision‑maker (real or fictional), structured as follows:

1. Bottom line (Vision & narrative) One or two sentences: what your country wants from AI and why now.

1. Pillars and choices (1–8) Short sections that highlight:

• Compute & infrastructure plan (pillar 2).
• Data and digital public infrastructure approach (pillar 3).
• Talent & R&D actions (pillar 4).
• 2–3 priority sectors and public sector transformation moves (pillar 5).
• Governance and rights guardrails (pillar 6).
• Institutions that will run and coordinate the strategy (pillar 7).
• International engagement stance (pillar 8).

1. Metrics and review (pillar 9) 3–5 indicators you will track over the next 3–5 years, who will report on them, and how often the strategy will be reviewed.

1. Ask and timeline What decisions, budgets, or mandates you are asking for now, and what can realistically be achieved in 12–24 months.

You will also prepare a 3‑minute oral pitch of this memo for your cohort, practicing how to explain complex trade‑offs in simple language.

What makes this sprint different (practical advantages)

• Context-first design: treats infrastructure gaps, power constraints, and limited compute access as first-order variables - not footnotes.
• Execution emphasis: institutions and delivery machinery are treated as the core of strategy, not an appendix.
• Regional realism: aligns national strategy work with regional frameworks (AU, ASEAN) without collapsing national agency.
• Modern governance coverage: integrates safety capacity, audits, and oversight as buildable components - scaled to budget reality.
• Decision-ready outputs: the program forces clarity, sequencing, and trade-offs, producing artifacts leaders can act on.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the sprint, you should be able to:

• Use the 9‑pillar framework to analyze and compare national or organizational AI strategies.
• Distinguish clearly between compute and data as separate strategic levers, and design policy tools for each.
• Identify and justify priority sectors and corresponding public sector transformation plans.
• Propose realistic institutional arrangements for implementation, including coordination and oversight bodies.
• Articulate a clear international posture on AI, aligned with existing global frameworks and geopolitical realities.
• Embed labour market, inclusion, and societal impacts into AI strategy rather than treating them as afterthoughts.
• Define meaningful metrics and review cycles to keep strategies adaptive rather than static.
• Communicate all of the above in a short, persuasive memo and spoken briefing suited to senior decision‑makers.

Program Summary

The CentPol National AI Strategy Sprint 2026 is a five-week, hybrid program that helps policymakers and strategists design implementable national AI strategies in Africa and the Global South. Participants learn a reusable 9-pillar framework spanning vision, compute, data governance, talent, priority sectors, governance and safety, institutions, international engagement, and metrics. Each week combines curated public readings, live discussion, and structured exercises. By the end, participants produce a two-page strategy memo and a three-minute pitch designed for real decision-makers.

About CentPol

CentPol (Center for Emerging and Next Tech Policy, Strategy & Foresight) supports governments and institutions in making sense of fast-moving technologies and designing strategies that are ambitious, realistic, and responsible. Its work draws on comparative strategy analysis, regional governance frameworks, and implementation-focused policy design.

*Video call link: https://meet.google.com/dhg-nwbw-ahk*