The First Ever Sandbox Summer School

Sandbox Summer School 2025​

Join the Pioneers of Innovation and Become a Sandbox Facilitator

Get the details

  • Location: Lisbon, Portugal
  • Type: In-person
  • Duration: June 30th to July 4th, 2025 – from 9:00 to 16:00
  • Application Process: Rolling applications – See here the application form
  • Certificates: Participants who complete the program will receive a Sandbox Facilitate Certificate, recognizing their ability to design, implement and manage sandboxes for responsible innovation
  • Cost: 4,500 euros*

*20% off if registration done by May 1st.

The program includes materials, lunch, tea/coffee. Accommodation is not included.

Apply now

From vision to action

The Sandbox Summer School offers a unique opportunity for civil servants and policymakers to learn how to design, implement, and manage sandboxes in key emerging sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI), digital public infrastructure (DPI), fintech, as well as applications on health, infrastructure and communication services.

Over the course of the 5 days program, participants will engage with experts, share experiences, and develop practical knowledge that can be applied to their own contexts, including a hands-on lab to co-create a sandbox.

The Sandbox Summer School is offered by the Datasphere Initiative in the context of the Global Sandbox Forum capacity building program.

Content

Module 1

Introduction to sandbox
  • Get introduced to the concept of sandboxes, their evolution, and types.
  • Explore how sandboxes foster responsible innovation, legal compliance and regulatory experimentation across different sectors.
  • Learn about the objectives of sandboxes, best practices on design and implementation, key sector-specific examples, resources needed, and when to sandbox.
  • Address to potential disadvantages of sandboxes (e.g. legitimacy, reduced spaces for civil society participation, transparency, etc) with their corresponding strategies. 
  • Learn how to assess organizational readiness and consider alternatives when a sandbox isn’t suitable.

Module 2

Sandboxes in action
  • Learn how sandboxes are applied in key sectors: AI, local initiatives, and cross-border cooperation.
  • Explore AI-specific regulatory frameworks used to incentivize and govern the deployment of real-world existing sandboxes, how municipalities use sandboxes for smart city projects, and the role of cross-border sandboxes in addressing global issues.
  • Provide real-world insights into the applications of sandboxes based on case studies from various regions.

Module 3

Step-by-step of a sandbox 
  • Go through the key phases of the sandbox journey: Initiation, Planning, Implementation, Communication & Engagement, and Exit & Evaluation.
  • Learn how to define a sandbox, plan its structure, engage stakeholders, manage operations, and assess its success with KPIs.
  • Cover the practical steps of setting up, running, and evaluating a sandbox.
  • Explore real-world examples for these different key phases.

Module 4

Sandbox Lab
  • Apply the knowledge and strategies they’ve learned throughout the course with an interactive, hands-on environment.
  • This module is structured around three key approaches: an individual exercise, a co-creation workshop, and a simulation phase.

Before you dive in

Is this for me?

This summer school is designed for:

  • Civil servants working on technology regulation and public policy.
  • Policymakers involved in emerging technologies, innovation, and sustainability.
  • Regulatory bodies aiming to implement new frameworks for testing innovative technologies or with the legal mandate to establish and deploy AI regulatory sandboxes.
  • Public sector professionals interested in agile policy making and responsible innovation at local, regional, national or cross-border levels. 
  • Civil society representatives who are members or planning on joining as participating stakeholders or in advisory positions related to sandboxes.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the program, you will:

  • Understand the sandbox methodology and its role in innovation and regulation.
  • Gain practical knowledge of how to design, set up, and implement sandboxes in key sectors.
  • Learn to engage stakeholders and ensure transparency throughout the sandbox process.
  • Develop the skills necessary to evaluate the success of a sandbox initiative and make informed decisions about scaling or closing it.
  • Create a co-designed sandbox for their own sector or country, applying knowledge gained during the course.

Approach

The program uses a blended learning approach that combines expert-led lectures, interactive workshops, case studies, and practical labs. You will be guided through five key levels of intervention, gaining both theoretical understanding and hands-on experience.

  • Assessing Readiness Evaluate your organization’s preparedness to implement a sandbox, and analyse  the regulatory readiness aspect. 
  • Setting Up the Sandbox Tailored support to design a sandbox aligned with regulatory goals.
  • Implementing the Sandbox Hands-on guidance to ensure smooth operations and regulatory compliance.
  • Engagement & Communication Develop strategies to engage stakeholders and communicate sandbox initiatives.
  • Exit & Evaluation Learn how to close the sandbox effectively and evaluate its impact for future initiatives.

Questions?

What is a sandbox?

Sandboxes are safe spaces to test new technologies and practices against regulatory frameworks or experiment with innovative uses and means of governing data. Initially used in FinTech, sandboxes are now being applied to broader economic sectors—from transportation to telecommunications to AI. They can be operational, regulatory, or hybrid. Read our 5-minutes introduction.

The readiness assessment will help determine if a sandbox is a good fit based on your regulatory environment, goals, and available resources and what steps to take to improve your institutional readiness.

The program covers sandboxes as applied in multiple sectors, including AI (read our Sandboxes for AI report), DPI, telecommunications, transportation, finance, and health—each offering unique regulatory challenges and opportunities for sandbox implementation.

Basic familiarity with experimental regulation and agile methodologies is helpful, but not required. The program will provide foundational knowledge.

Yes, the co-creation lab is designed for participants to bring real-world projects or ideas and work on them in collaboration with others.

The course will be an opportunity to present the state-of-the-art of evidence and guidance on sandboxes. It could help you with the process of exiting a sandbox, ensuring you have the documentation and evaluation necessary to inform future initiatives.

Our Admissions team is here to help and can advise whether this Sandbox Summer School is right for you and your learning goals. Send a message and apply now!

Take the next step

Apply now for the Sandbox Summer School

Apply now