The Global Huawei ICT Competition regional winners have been awarded at an event held at the Serena Hotel. The 3 winning teams will represent the region at the global finals.
The winning Kenyan teams competed under the network and innovation tracks after a stiff competition to represent sub-saharan Africa on the global stage. The Network Track teams were awarded 1st and 3rd place while team Mazingira was awarded 3rd place under the Innovation track, as well as their lecturers and tutors. In addition to the medals and certificates, the winners also received a variety of Huawei products and Huawei exam vouchers as rewards.
Evans Ngeny of Laikipia University, whose team was first place under the Network Track, noted that the competition has provided great career opportunities and attributed the award to the support provided by various teams including the Huawei fraternity, the ICT Academy and the universities.
The 2019-2020 ICT Competition received over 6,400 student applications, out of which 100 students proceeded to the national finals, then later five teams proceeded to the regional finals. Ultimately the 3 winning teams will represent the region at the global finals.
Huawei has partnered with 42 institutions of higher learning including but not limited to the University of Nairobi, Kenyatta University, Laikipia University, Oshwal College, Catholic University and Multi-Media University of Kenya to drive the digital inclusion agenda in its efforts to bridge the digital divide reaching over 5000 students and 100 lectures since 2018.
To ensure that learning does not stop even during the pandemic, the UniTech program was launched to provide contactless online learning platforms for both students and tutors. The Huawei ICT Academy continues to partner with various organizations including universities and the Ministry of ICT under the Ajira Program and the Huawei Digitruck, to ensure that students and participants take advantage of the free courses and training on emerging technology.
In 2020, the University of Nairobi received the 2020 excellent global talent ecosystem partners’ award due to its broad partnership with Huawei on various capacity building and training programs including; the Huawei ICT competition, Huawei Campus ambassador program, Huawei Management Trainee program, Digitalent career fair, among others.