As you make your way southward to the outskirts of Turin, skirting the River Po along the busy street that leads you out of town, a couple of waving flags with the United Nations logo will suddenly appear in front of you. They are there to signal the entrance to a vast expanse of green, one that is tucked away from the hubbub of the city, with squirrels chasing each other and people on bicycles calmly making their way to one of the modern buildings that are sprayed all around.
The place is the campus of the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization (ITCILO, for short), a branch of the UN that for the past hundred years or so has been offering high-level training in the key competences of international development, always with an eye to the UN agenda for sustainability, life-long learning and fair opportunities for all. The Turin campus turned sixty in May this year, a major milestone that was duly celebrated by hosting President Sergio Mattarella.
On 7–8 October 2025, the ICTILO, together with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) and the African Union Commission, organised an event named “Skills for fair digital transitions in Africa”. Its goal was to create pathways for youth-led innovation so as to unlock Africa’s dormant potential for digital transformation. One of the topics of the fair – the first segment of which was held online from Nairobi, and the second in Turin – was to discuss with like-minded people how to best deploy Artificial Intelligence in a fair, inclusive way, both in Africa and elsewhere.
This very goal was the reason the PeerCards team was invited to take part in the proceedings, especially in the Tech and Networking Fair held on Wednesday, 8 October. After a stimulating panel featuring government representatives from Mauritania and Mozambique alongside Tom Wambeke, the manager of learning innovation for ITCILO, we all moved to the fair area- There, we – us and AI companies from all over Italy – were given a booth to showcase our projects to possible partners.
It proved to be a very fruitful day, as we were able to speak for the whole day to people who, like us, are keen on reflecting on the ramifications of AI in teaching and learning. We had a chat with Tom Wambeke himself, a former University lecturer who had first-hand knowledge of the challenges of integrating AI in teaching activities. With Tom, as well as with a number of other people who roamed around the fair area – fellow exhibitors who developed AI-assisted apps, delegates from African countries, educators, and other members of the ICTILO – we talked about the need to think of AI in a more horizontal way, one geared towards critical thinking rather than providing answers.
We were happy to be afforded the opportunity to make those people familiar with what Peercards is about – our principles, the feedback we got from students, and our future perspectives. Our day ended with a host of new contacts, and a hatful of new ideas to ponder on. The conversation on AI in learning is becoming more and more stimulating by the day, and the ICTILO event showed us that PeerCards has its place in it. It got us even more excited to keep working on developing, testing and refining PeerCards. We are looking forward to showing you our progress. Stay tuned – there is plenty more to come!
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