KAMPALA – Makerere University, in partnership with Oracle Academy, has equipped educators with the Cloud and Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools necessary to lead the digital transformation of higher education in Uganda.
The training, held under the Oracle Academy Faculty Day, was organised by the School of Business in collaboration with Asenti Africa and supported by industry experts from the Uganda Revenue Authority.
Opening the session, the Dean of the School of Business, Assoc. Prof. Godfrey Akileng said the university’s mission is anchored in 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 competency-based curriculum, and that is why we had 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.”
He emphasised 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 also outlined certification pathways: “We have Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Foundations, Data Platform Foundations, and AI Foundations certifications that help educators and students build future-ready skills.”
His co-presenter, Chemutai Jabeth Jamil, Database Administrator at URA and Co-founder of 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.
The session, officially opened at Makerere University’s Conference Room 2.1 under the theme “Future-Ready Teaching Starts Here: Cloud and AI”, brought together educators exploring how emerging technologies can reshape higher education in Uganda.
