By Our Reporter
Uganda scooped second prize at the seventh Huawei ICT global finals that took place at Huawei’s headquarters in Shenzhen, China. The event’s culmination was a competition between finalists in 146 teams from 36 countries. Before the Final, more than 120,000 students from more than 2000 universities in 74 countries and regions around the world took part in the ICT Competition.
The competition results were announced on 27th May 2023 at the closing ceremony in Shenzhen and team Uganda took second prize in the Network and Cloud track out of 146 teams in each of their tracks. The Network team from Uganda comprised of teams from Makerere and Kyambogo, whereas the Cloud track team was comprised of a team from Muni university, each having three students.
The closing and awards ceremony was graced by various delegates all over the world who represented their countries. Uganda was represented by Ambassador Judyth Nsababera, Consul General of Uganda to China, Guangzhou.
Ambassador Judyth in her remarks at the Awards ceremony stated that, “I am happy that Huawei has these opportunities where students all over the world can showcase their talents in ICT. And even more proud of the students that worked so hard to get to this global stage. I am especially happy to see female students participate in such global ICT Competitions. There is a global disparity in access to ICT amongst women and girls. Uganda continues to lead the world in promoting women in all sectors. Congratulations to the students from all the 4 teams and 3 universities. They will lead us as a country into this digital age.”
Xiao Haijun, President of Global Partner Development and Sales Dept, Huawei Enterprise Business Group among many other Huawei delegates who attended the closing ceremony noted the importance of digital talents and skills as the foundation for the digital economy.
He said, “Digital talent and digital skills will be the foundation for the digital economy development. In the future, Huawei will bring ICT education resources to more schools around the world. We are projected to build 7000 Huawei ICT Academies in total by 2026, train more than 1 million students every year, greatly improving students’ digital literacy and skills for a more dynamic and inclusive digital world.”
The annual Huawei ICT Competition is a key piece of the ICT Academy Campaign. It targets university and college students worldwide, aiming to facilitate communication between schools, enterprises, and governments while building a robust talent ecosystem. Through this competition, Huawei aims to challenge the students’ ICT knowledge as well as the practical and application skills, and ultimately, inspire innovation.
As of the end of 2022, Huawei has cooperated with 2200 universities to build Huawei ICT Academies, helping to train more than 200,000 students each year. Since its initial launch in 2015, more than 580,000 students from 85 countries and regions around the world have participated in the competition.