21 top Kenyan students have emerged top at the 2023-2024 Huawei ICT Competition. Of the 21 winners at a national level, 18 of them won awards at the regional level and will be going to China for the global final.
The winning students also received cash prizes and Huawei products whilst other awards were given out for lecturers and women in technology. The award ceremony was part of a National ICT Talent Summit of University and ICT Industry stakeholders including Safaricom and UNESCO to discuss ways of enhancing the teaching of, and use of, emerging ICT technologies in higher education.
Various institutions including JKUAT, Kibabii University and Africa Nazarene University shared successful cases of how they have incorporated Industry Certification learning into their existing undergraduate programs.
The Huawei ICT Competition was initiated in 2015 as part of the Huawei ICT Academy. The 2023-2024 edition featured four distinct tracks; cloud, computing, network, and innovation.
Present at the ceremony was Hon. Ezekiel Machogu, Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Education who noted, “The Ministry of Education is fully aware of the importance of using technology in teaching, and in producing a workforce with high technology skills. We are very pleased to see the outcomes of partnerships with industry such as Huawei and Safaricom, as well as international organizations such as UNESCO, to support training of lecturers and students in the high-end ICT skills such as internet of things (IOT), artificial intelligence and cloud computing to address the skills gap in the ICT sector.”
In Kenya, Huawei has established ICT Academies in over 50 universities and colleges, providing access to cutting-edge technology training in networking, cloud computing, 5G, and AI. Annually, these academies train over 4,000 students, contributing significantly to the ICT skills landscape.