Huawei has announced that the DigiTruck program has trained more than 1,500 youth on digital skills across 13 locations in 10 counties countrywide in its first year. The DigiTruck is a solar-powered mobile classroom equipped with internet and smart devices to train youth on digital skills.
Huawei also declared its support for the DigiTruck for a 2nd year, following the successful 1st year and the tremendous support it has had from national agencies, county governments as well as implementation partners.
The announcement was made today when the DigiTruck launched in Kitui to start four weeks of digital skills training for youth. It’s previous stop was in Nyeri, where Cabinet Secretary for ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs, Joe Mucheru presided over the graduation of 100 youth and thanked Huawei and the National Youth Council for making sure the youth across Kenya received digital skills training.
Public-private partnerships have played a key role in growing digital literacy, hence reducing the barriers of participation and entry for marginalized communities. The Huawei DigiTruck has given the beneficiaries the skills necessary to work remotely and has enables operations in rural areas whilst strictly following COVID-19 protocols.
Fiona Pan, Deputy CEO Public Affairs at Huawei Kenya, recently noted that ICT is critical, and is the fastest growing part of the economy, although on its own is not enough if people don’t know how to use it. This, she mentioned, is the reason Huawei is helping provide digital skills all over the country, especially focusing on rural areas.
Huawei Digitruck is a program under Huawei Tech4all, a digital inclusion initiative focusing on three main areas of technology, application and skills to empower people and organizations across the globe.
In its first year of operations the DigiTruck has provided over 22,000 hours of training for youth in Bomet, Embu, Kericho, Laikipia, Machakos, Meru, Nandi, and Nyeri so far.