Riyadh, Dec. 19 (Petra) -- Huawei concluded its 2024-2025 Middle East and Central Asia (ME&CA) ICT Competition with a glittering Regional Finals Awards Ceremony in Riyadh, coinciding the 10th anniversary of Huawei ICT Academy in the ME&CA. The event recognized exceptional performance across Cloud, Network, Computing tracks and innovation competiton, celebrating the achievements of students and instructors from leading regional institutions.

This year, a team of students from Jordan won the grand prize for the network track, while two student teams from Lebanon secured the grand prize in the Cloud and Computing Tracks. In the Innovation Competition, a team from Qatar emerged victorious, claiming the Grand Prize for their project 'Be My Sense.' The first prize category was shared among several teams: a Saudi team for their project 'NABEEH,' an Uzbekistan team for 'Volta,' and a Pakistani team for 'PRISM.'

Second prizes were awarded to a Kazakhstani team for 'Plantos,' a Jordanian team for '3asheqHuawei', an Iraqi team for 'EcoGuardians,' and another Saudi team for 'CS2R'. In addition to these accolades, the team behind 'NABEEH' from Saudi Arabia received special recognition, winning the 'Most Popular Team' award after securing the most votes from attendees.

Muhammad Zubair, Consultant at the Al-Khawarizmi Institute of Computer Science, was awarded the inaugural Grand Prize for Instructors, a new category introduced this year at the Huawei ICT Competition finals.

Steven Yi, President of Huawei Middle East & Central Asia, reflected on the competition's impact and said: "ICT talents are the lifeblood of digital transformation. We gathered at this prestigious awarding ceremony to invest in our young people, who are an investment in our lives and future. We should target skilled digital talents who can solve complex industrial problems using Intelligent technologies. Through initiatives like the ICT Competition, we continue to support the development of digital talent who will drive innovation in their respective nations."

Steven Yi also revealed that Huawei will officially launch "T.H.E. Gold Talent " program in 2025. This program is an evolution of the current talent cultivation program to meet the requirements of the AI Era. It aims to focus on introducing more advanced courses on AI to solve complex industrial scenarios related to Middle East and Central Asia Region. It also focuses on utilizing advanced technologies like 5G-A, cloud, and AI-based ICT education, smart classrooms in transforming higher education, and helping universities cultivate more competitive all-around digital intelligence talent. The program also targets more proactive collaboration and offers parallel HR programs to unleash the talent’s value through jobs and interns.

During the event, in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the ICT Academy, a series of awards were presented to partners, instructors, and students. King Saud University, the University of Bahrain, Bahrain Polytechnic, and Al-Khawarizmi Institute of Science & Technology, received the ‘Best Partner Award’ among others recognized and appreciated for their continuous efforts and innovations in driving digital transformation.

The competition's success reflects its growing significance in the regional technology education landscape. This year's Hauwei ICT Competition has seen unprecedented participation, with over 31,000 student registrations from 640 regional universities and colleges in 19 countries. The competition featured 290 participants in the Innovation Track and 30,900 participants in Practice Competitions, competing across multiple tracks, including Cloud, Network, and Computing. Participants underwent comprehensive assessment through written exams and hands-on lab work, while the innovation track featured both online and onsite defense rounds. It has also garnered support and endorsement from UNESCO, along with over 40 regional ministries, operators, and industry partners.

This milestone event builds upon Huawei's decade-long commitment to ICT talent development in the region. Through partnerships with 106 ICT academies managed by six ICT Academy Support Centers (IASCs), the program has trained over 300,000 students and certified over 35,000 professionals. This extensive network of 2,000+ qualified instructors continue to play a vital role in developing the digital workforce needed to support the region's technological advancement.

//Petra//

19/12/2024 11:14:11