With digital technologies becoming the building blocks of the UAE’s intelligent society—and increasingly important during the COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic recovery—Huawei is once again touching on an important driver of the digital transformation journey, nurturing ICT talent. The company has now opened the 4th edition of its flagship annual Middle East ICT Competition in the UAE to support the next generation of leaders for an intelligent world, in line with government national plans and strategies.
The initiative underpins technology utilization and aims to support socio-economic development by bolstering the overall ICT ecosystem through local talent. Such individuals can in turn help the UAE achieve its national development visions for more sustainable knowledge-based economies. From October to December, thousands of undergraduate students are expected to participate in the competition, which is being held virtually for the first time due to physical distancing measures. Six universities in the UAE are participating this year including University of Dubai, American University of Ras Al Khaimah, UAE University, Ajman University, University of Sharjah, and Higher Colleges of Technologies, with various representatives having participated in the competition’s opening ceremony.
Jiawei Liu, CEO of Huawei UAE, said: “Empowering the UAE’s youth with global knowledge and new skills plays a key role in the future of socio-economic growth. Huawei is committed to expanding the ICT value chain in the UAE through local talent, building open ecosystems, and international knowledge sharing. We believe in collaboration and shared success, and put forward our best efforts to support the sustainable development of ambitious countries like the UAE. Moreover, by offering participants access to online exchanges and learning, we can create more equal opportunities for quality education, enabling more people to benefit from the digital economy.”
The competition promotes creativity amongst students by acting as a bridge between the classroom and the workforce, enhancing students’ future employment opportunities. The training and competition tracks for this year—held under the theme “Connection, Glory, Future”—focus on advanced technologies such as 5G, AI, cloud computing, and data storage, facilitating connections between international talent. In addition to sharpening student’s own knowledge of these domains, the competition assists government authorities, colleges, and universities to identify and support the future leaders of ICT.
This year will also see the introduction of the Huawei Innovation Competition, held in parallel to the ICT Competition. It focuses on supporting undergraduate students and teachers in using innovative technologies such as AI, cloud computing, and big data to create valuable and meaningful applications for society. Huawei has invited universities and colleges across the Middle East to participate in the new Innovation Competition, with a total of ten teams to be selected for the regional final this year.
Winners of the regional competitions will receive a certification, future learning opportunities, a USD$20,000 cash prize, and more.
Last year, over 260 students from across the UAE applied for the Middle East ICT Competition from leading colleges and universities. The competition was supported by ministries, various ambassadors, and academic chancellors from some of the UAE’s top-ranking universities. The team who participated from UAE, won outstanding performance award in the ICT Competition regional finals that was held at Huawei’s headquarters in Shenzhen, China with the participation of 13 teams from 10 Middle East countries.
Registration for the Huawei Middle East ICT Competition 2020 is now open through this microsite.
