Ankabut, the UAE’s advanced technology provider for the education and research ecosystem, announced a strategic partnership with PowerSchool, a global provider of K-12 education technology serving more than 60 million students across 90+ countries. The partnership will bring PowerSchool’s connected operating system to the UAE through Ankabut’s sovereign infrastructure that will give UAE schools access to globally proven technology that has been successfully deployed across education systems worldwide. The announcement was marked by an event at ERTH Abu Dhabi Hotel on September 22, 2026, attended by PowerSchool and Ankabut’s K-12 customers.
As part of this collaboration, PowerSchool will deliver its Student Information System (SIS), SIS will operate inside Ankabut’s data centre at Khalifa University, ensuring student and institutional data is stored within the UAE. This joint initiative supports two priorities central to the UAE’s national strategy by accelerating AI adoption in education and reinforcing the country’s approach to data sovereignty by keeping data within the UAE, rather than being hosted in overseas data centres.
“AI is changing how students learn and how teachers teach, and schools need digital infrastructure that keeps pace,” said Tarek Jundi, CEO of Ankabut. “Our partnership with PowerSchool means UAE schools get access to leading digital tools without compromising on data sovereignty. That’s the balance schools are asking us for today, technology they can build on, and data they can trust.”
Ankabut’s national infrastructure, combined with PowerSchool’s AI-powered solutions, brings a globally recognised education system to UAE schools. Through its collaboration with Ankabut and local deployment infrastructure, PowerSchool supports local data hosting requirements in the UAE. In addition, several PowerSchool solutions offer localised user experiences, including Arabic language support, right-to-left interfaces, and support for regional requirements such as the Hijri calendar. Operating in Dubai since 2023, PowerSchool brings a regional presence that complements Ankabut’s role as the UAE’s national education network.
With schools now consolidating systems and adopting AI-driven tools for learning, everyday operations can be increasingly complex, and this collaboration allows schools to place all their functions under one unified system. It will enable individualised learning within a secure environment that’s available to both public and private institutions. AI tools will adapt to each student’s learning style, while reducing the administrative burden that often pulls teachers away from classrooms.
“Through our partnership with Ankabut, we’re combining globally proven education technology with trusted local infrastructure to help schools simplify operations, support personalised learning, and confidently adopt AI-powered tools,” said Fadi Abdulkhalek, Vice President EMEA at PowerSchool. “Together, we’re committed to empowering educators, improving student outcomes, and ensuring data privacy and security remain foundational to innovation.”
Together, Ankabut and PowerSchool share a long-term vision of AI-enabled tools becoming a standard practice across educational institutions, while maintaining the highest standards of data privacy and security.
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