Three Kenyan teams have been awarded today at an event in Serena Hotel after excelling in the Huawei ICT competition globally.
The event was officiated by the Principal Secretary of the State Department for University Education and Research, Amb. Simon Nabukwesi.”The ICT Competition is a unique contribution that the private sector can provide that significantly enhances the quality of our ICT education. We recognize the need for different formats that are practical and hands-on to complement the theory,” he said.
The teams competed under two tracks: the network and innovation tracks. The network track wre awarded 1st and 3rd place while team Mazingira was awarded 3rd place under the innovation track.
In addition to the medals and certificates awarded to the winners, they also received a variety of Huawei products and Huawei exam vouchers.
The 2019-2020 ICT competition received over 6.400 student applications of which 100 proceeded to the national finals. 5 teams proceeded to the regional finals and ultimately 3 teams ended up representing Kenya at the global finals.
The global finals saw African teams field 13 teams and winning a total of 7 medals. This was better than the 2019 finals where the previous 5 teams got only one 3rd prize. The competition contents included knowledge of Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and Big Data as well as examining their innovative design and development capabilities.
Huawei has been investing in nurturing ICT talent in Kenya. They have partnered with 42 institutions of higher learning. They aim to drive the digital inclusion agenda by reaching over 5000 students and 100 lectures since 2018.
“Huawei has played an important role in the development of ICT Talent in these countries for many years now, and we are seeing the efforts from us as well as from governments and other partners pay off. Investing in education is not only our social responsibility but also our business priority to help grow the ICT sector and to help grow the economies of the countries in which we work,” Frank Yang, VP Huawei Southern Africa Regions aid.
