The national winners in Pakistan from this year’s Huawei Middle East ICT Competition, held in partnership with the Higher Education Commission in Pakistan, have now been announced, with two teams–comprising of three students and one teacher each– participating in the regional finals of this year’s event. The annual competition welcomes thousands of college and university students from Pakistan and the wider Middle East, enhancing students’ future employment through knowledge sharing on the latest ICT developments.
Due to social distancing rules, this year’s Huawei Middle East ICT Competition saw students participate virtually in the annual competition. All registered students took part in a Preliminary Competition and Training Enablement, followed by a National Finals written exams and interviews that were held online in the country.
The winners of this year’s competition represent 3 universities including the National University of Science and Technology, Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences, and Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro. They received honors such as a Huawei certification and other awards. This year’s winning teams were chosen from a field of 100finalists in Pakistan, who competed following the preliminary round involving more than 10,500competition entries from135 universities.
Congratulating the winners, Mark Meng, CEO of Huawei, Pakistan, said: “Our congratulations go out to the winning national teams as well as everyone who participated in this year’s competition. Such robust participation has demonstrated the immense capacity for Pakistan’s youth to combine innovation and creativity in using digital solutions. Building local ICT talent is an investment in the future of the country itself, and will ultimately equip Pakistan to better pursue digital transformation, their national development plans, and ambitious visions. This year’s competition was well-received amongst the student community in Pakistan, who adapted to the virtual edition with great ease, demonstrating their flexibility and innovative spirit.”
Mr. Haroon Malik, CEO, CORVIT NETWORKS IT Solutions & Services, said: “The Huawei Middle East ICT Competition is an exceptional platform to foster an interest in this essential sector. We are proud to have supported this initiative once again, as we believe in the value of nurturing young talent who will represent a connected future for our country.”
Dr. Waqar Mahmood, Director, Al-Khwarizmi Institute of Computer Science (KICS), added: “The ICT industry represents the foundation of the future development of Pakistan’s digital economy. It is important that we recognize the talent of our youth by providing them with a prestigious industry platform such as the Huawei Middle East ICT competition. We, at KICS, are honored to partner with a global ICT leader like Huawei and contribute towards the development of the future ICT professionals in our country.”
Huawei is committed to growing the global ICT talent ecosystem by investing in youth and providing development and training opportunities that will enable them to become leaders in the ICT field. Through this worldwide social responsibility initiative, Huawei seeks to enhance knowledge transfer, promote a greater understanding of and interest in the technology sector, and to encourage regional participation in the growth of the digital community and economy.
In 2020 specifically, virtual activities such as skills-development training and roadshows have been conducted in coordination with Huawei’s state-of-the-art labs and leveraging Huawei’s global experts worldwide. The addition of an Innovation Competition in 2020 has also helped raise the bar in promoting local innovation, supporting participants in using cutting-edge ICT platforms to create valuable and meaningful applications for society.
