Huawei Uganda has launched the 2017 Seeds for the Future program.
The 2017 edition of the program, which began in Uganda in 2016 with 10 ICT talents visiting China in Beijing and Shenzhen, was launched by Hon. Frank Tumwebaze, the Minister of ICT and National Guidance at Makerere University, College of Computing and Informational Science on Monday.
Hon. Frank Tumwebaze lauded Huawei for the 2017 Seeds for the Future program and noted that the program is in line with the ‘Digitization Uganda Strategy’ that is to be completed and launched soon.
“I thank Huawei for the great contribution to the ICT sector. Seeds for the Future program helps cultivate and pool together ICT professionals and students that are crucial to industry development, thus boosting ICT industry growth, driving the development of different sectors and contributing to lower unemployment rates over the long term. To the beneficiary students, please don’t take such opportunities lightly but rather maximize them to become better by gathering useful experiences’’, he said.
The program that was flagged off by H.E. Yoweri Museveni in 2016 saw 10 ICT talents trained in the Chinese culture such as language, calligraphy, painting learning, historical tour in Beijing and cutting-edge ICTs lessons, enterprise management experience sharing, lab practices, Huawei exhibition hall visit and solutions demonstration in Shenzhen, where Huawei’s headquarter is located.
“Our focus this year is to have the top 10 students out of the 35 students recommended by government universities of Uganda through competition. The judges will look through their proposals on ‘How to accelerate the development of Uganda through ICT’ and select the best 10 for theprogram who shall travel to China on 2 nd June for two weeks”, says Stanley Chyn Huawei’s Managing Director at the program launch ceremony.
The Assistant Commissioner Information and Communication of the Ministry of Education and Sports Mr. Patrick Muinda commended Huawei for the program and noted that the Minister of Education approved to partner with Huawei for the activities under the Seeds for the Future 2017.
“The Ministry of Education and Sports is a partner of the Seeds for the future program 2017. This program was introduced to the Minister Hon. Janet Museveni earlier this year, which she welcomed and approved all the said activities and timelines to take place. On this note I thank Huawei for allowing us to be a part and parcel of an initiative that can only add to Uganda’s education sector through knowledge transfer, enhancement of teaching and scientific research capabilities and provision of high quality courses and opportunities for hands-on practice”, he said.
The Deputy Chief of Mission Chinese Embassy to Uganda Mr. Chu Maoming noted that Chinese companies like Huawei are committed to the wellbeing of all Ugandans and affirmed that it is a policy for all Chinese enterprises to give back to the locals.
The Seeds for the Future program was initiated in 2008 by Huawei with over 2700 talents from all over the world for study trips in China.
