The College of Business and Management Sciences (CoBAMS) at Makerere University, on Thursday 16th April 2026, hosted a high-impact educator training aimed at equipping lecturers with cloud computing and artificial intelligence skills to transform teaching, research, and innovation in higher education.
Themed, “Future-Ready Teaching Starts Here: Cloud and AI,” the training held in the CoBAMS Conference Hall, brought together educators exploring how emerging technologies can reshape higher education in Uganda.
The training, held under the Oracle Academy Faculty Day, was organized by the School of Business in collaboration with Asenti Africa and supported by industry experts from Uganda Revenue Authority (URA).
Opening the training, the Dean of the School of Business, Associate Professor Godfrey Akileng, said the university exists to contribute to societal transformation. The Dean emphasized that digitization is an enabler of societal transformation.
“We are here to contribute towards societal transformation through capacity development, innovation, and research,” he said. “Our major role is to ensure that students leave this university ready for the job market. We are preparing for a competence-based curriculum, and that is why we are holding this training.”
He added: “Oracle has the tools, resources, and software to enhance teaching, learning, research, and innovation. If lecturers acquire these AI and cloud skills, it will make them better teachers and researchers. We are learning from this partnership, and about 25 lecturers were equipped with skills during this training.”
Speaking at the same event, Asenti Africa President Calvin Jodisi, who also serves as an Oracle Academy partner, explained the purpose of the initiative.
“Oracle Academy is the philanthropic arm of Oracle Corporation. It works with universities to support both educators and students. Today’s session was about introducing tools that improve teaching and learning outcomes.”
Jodisi noted that trainers from Uganda Revenue Authority played a key role in delivering the program. “We had two trainers from Uganda Revenue Authority who are Oracle-certified. They have been trained through Oracle University and are qualified to deliver these tools,” he said.
“In total, we had about 25 educators participating, mainly from the School of Business and computing disciplines.”
He emphasized accessibility: “Educators and students can sign up using their university emails and access these tools freely once the institution is registered.”
Highlighting the practical value of the training, Senior Database Administrator and Oracle-certified expert, Businge Rogers at URA and Co-founder of Uganda Oracle User Group, said cloud and AI are reshaping research capacity.
“Big ideas need big compute and technology that won’t crash halfway through your simulation,” he said.
Businge explained that many researchers face “limited computing resources, fragmented tools, storage constraints, and slow processing power,” adding that Oracle’s cloud ecosystem addresses these gaps.
“Oracle has developed the Oracle AI database. It offers compute, storage, networking, and security, all supporting research at scale,” he said.
He added: “Machine learning inside a database means no data movement. It simplifies architecture, speeds up development, and includes over 30 built-in ML algorithms accessible via SQL, Python, and R.”
Businge outlined the following certification pathways: “We have Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Foundations, Data Platform Foundations, and AI Foundations certifications that help educators and students build future-ready skills.”
He concluded: “Run your next research project on Oracle AI Database.”
His co-presenter, Chemutai Jabeth Jamil, Database Administrator at URA and Co-founder, Uganda Oracle User Group reinforced the same message, stressing the importance of scalable digital infrastructure for education and research.
The training also featured insights from lecturers on how the tools will transform classroom delivery.
“With Oracle tools, we can enhance learning, teaching, research, and innovation. There is no learning that leaves you the same,” stated Associate Professor Akileng.
He added: “We are preparing for learners who studied under the competence-based curriculum. Such partnerships make better teachers and better researchers.”
From the partner side, Jodisi said the impact would be felt beyond the classroom. “This training will improve teaching methods, expand student access to digital tools, and enhance employability,” he said.
According to the Dean, School of Business at Makerere University: “We are now in a world where AI tools simplify many tasks. Students can build solutions without deep coding skills.”
At the end of the training, the participants shared that they had been equipped with practical demonstrations, hands-on labs, and guidance on integrating cloud and AI tools into teaching and research.
The feedback from the participants signaled what the organisers described as a shift toward a more digitally enabled university ecosystem.