Team Zambia qualifies to Huawei Global ICT Competition
The recently held 2019-2020 Huawei sponsored Regional ICT competition whose theme was “Connection, Glory, Future” successfully came to a close.
The competition which was held in partnership with various universities and ICT academies across the African continent attracted over 50,000 candidates from 13 countries.
Unlike similar previous ICT competitions that saw droves of participants physically travel to South Africa for the event, this year’s competition is virtual and will require no participant to travel.
12 Zambian students who were selected to be virtual participants in the just ended competition put up a brilliant performance, managing to scoop second prize in cloud track category and they will be promoted to the global finals.
Speaking during the ceremony, Huawei Vice President for Southern Africa Region Liao Yong said the digital gap is widening under the new normal brought by the epidemic and digitally disadvantaged people are hit harder, and that school closures affect online studies and job markets.
He explained that through introducing “learn all” programs which create online education system for educators and students, making attempts to make online education more universal, and improving employability through ICT competitions, so that ICT academies can make a big difference in the economies of their countries.
Mr. Young said this year’s online ICT competition shows special significance in the context of Covid 19 pandemic.
Over the past 5 years, Huawei has signed a cooperation agreement with over 250 universities in 40 Sub-Saharan countries including Zambia. The cooperation has helped many university students obtain Huawei ICT certification which adds on to the employability of university graduates and make them better candidates for ICT related jobs. Over 150,000 students in the recent past have found jobs through Huawei ICT competitions.
Various academies and individuals are being trained in ICT related courses with a view to develop talents with practical skills for ICT industries and obtain Huawei certification based on its industry leading technologies and global practices.
Speaking after the event, Huawei Zambia Director of Public Relations Hechen He, explained that, Huawei Zambia is particularly impressed with the Zambian team for posting an encouraging result, adding that they have demonstrated that they are capable of maturing into world-class experts.
In Zambia Huawei has partnered with various learning institutions such as UNZA, CBU, Mulungushi, University of Lusaka, ZCAS, Evelyn Hone and NIPA among others to train students in ICT’s.
The Huawei ICT Competition is an annual event that begins with local national ICT competitions where local higher learning institutions compete among themselves and later participate in regional competition and consequently global competitions. The Huawei ICT global competition is slated for November 2020 in Shenzhen China.
Source: Huawei Zambia
