• SAS is teaming up with the Commonwealth Secretariat.
• The pair will bring AI software and computing resources to students and educators in Commonwealth countries.
• SAS aims to donate software and compute power worth $10 million.

SAS has this week announced that it will work with the Commonwealth Secretariat to bring AI software and computing resources to Commonwealth countries.

In total, SAS will donate software and compute power worth $10 million as part of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Commonwealth AI Consortium. This initiative aims to build technological capacity in small states and among young people.

The company says that higher education students and educators will have free access to SAS Viya for Learners. This platform offers those with a university email address access to analytics software and other cloud-based solutions.

In addition, students and educators will be granted access to the SAS Skill Builder for Students and the SAS Educator Portal. These platforms offer digital courses, certification programs, and hands-on learning opportunities designed to build and validate analytics and AI skills. The Educator Portal includes teaching materials that make it easy to integrate analytics content into curricula.

“In our rapidly evolving digital landscape, we face not just a digital divide, but a critical infrastructure divide. If we fail to address this gap and make essential resources available to our youth, we risk losing an entire generation to technological inequality,” says Senior Director of AI, Trade, Oceans and Natural Resources at the Commonwealth Secretariat, Suresh Yadav.

“This isn’t just about access to information; it’s about empowering young minds with the tools to innovate, create, and solve global challenges. If we do this right, we’re not just connecting students to technology – we’re connecting them to limitless possibilities. Our partnership with SAS is a vital step towards ensuring that no young person in the Commonwealth is left behind in the digital revolution.”

Initially, SAS will focus on the Caribbean region before expanding to other countries. The goal is to train at least 10 000 student and educators over five years.

On of the key focus areas includes the ethical use of AI. As we’ve seen in recent months, AI firms tend to be less than ethical about their operations, often ignoring things like copyright protections in pursuit of attaining training data.

“This collaboration will bring AI capacity to populations that haven’t always benefited from the technological advances that power the world’s largest economies,” said Reggie Townsend, SAS Vice President of Data Ethics. “These students will not only gain AI skills coveted by employers around the world, but they will also learn how to wield these powerful technologies ethically in ways that benefit society.”

It’s great to see such an inclusive push into AI, and hopefully this means that less advanced nations aren’t left to deal with yet another digital divide.