Huawei: government, industry and society can together use digital solutions to meet Ireland’s climate-change goals
[Dublin, Ireland, November 25, 2021] Huawei European Innovation Day 2021 was held online and on site in Dublin Castle on November 25. The event, addressed by Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien TD, featured the launch of a new report, “Ireland’s Digital Path to Sustainability”, by Amárach Research and commissioned by Huawei Ireland. In addition to the focus on sustainability, speakers presented on female leadership and STEM Education.
Tony Yangxu, Chief Executive Officer, Huawei Ireland, spoke extensively about Huawei’s commitment to developing, supplying and investing in technologies that are central to the global drive for sustainable growth.
Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien TD delivers a opening speech at the event
Also speaking at the event, Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien TD, said: “Everything runs on energy, and to make our solutions sustainable, we need to innovate. A significant amount of carbon emissions occur during the manufacturing and construction process, but innovation can play a key role to mitigate this, and is already doing so. Industry 4.0 is making building and manufacturing processes more energy-efficient. The European Environment Information and Observation Network also pinpointed the role for the digital sector in contributing to the European Green Deal and reducing the manufacturing sector’s environmental impact in a report earlier this year. I would like to thank Huawei and Dublin Chamber for their efforts in hosting this significant event today in this respect and I applaud this insightful thought-provoking new Amárach report, which will be an extremely valuable tool for policy-makers and innovators in reducing our carbon emissions.”
The report found that successfully deploying digital technologies could deliver up to 40% of the reduction in carbon emissions needed to meet Ireland’s 2030 targets and that 52% of senior decision-makers across the energy, agri-food and public sectors now see climate change as the most important business consideration.
Tony Yangxu delivers a keynote speech in Dublin to mark Huawei European Innovation Day 2021
Tony Yangxu emphasized that in an increasingly digital world, Huawei was determined to ensure the global impact of digitalisation is overwhelmingly positive. He said: "We believe that digital technologies can accelerate the transition to clean energy and the digitalisation of traditional energy to drive sustainable growth in Ireland and beyond."
He specifically pointed to key areas where Huawei's innovation can contribute. “By using bits to manage watts, Huawei offers low-carbon power solutions to industry customers in Ireland and internationally so that they can achieve their carbon neutrality goals. These include Smart PV, clean-energy, traffic electrification and integrated smart solutions that can support sustainable operations and reduce carbon emissions.
Lord Mayor of Dublin, Alison Gilliland joined a panel about female leadership at the Huawei Ireland Innovation Day 2021
The Dublin Castle event also featured contributions on female leadership involving Lord Mayor of Dublin, Alison Gilliland; Siobhan O’Shea, Client Services Director, CPL; Brid Horan, Chancellor, DCU and Paul Harrison, Huawei UK. The STEM Education & Talents Upskilling session heard from Sarah Jane Delaney, Professor of Inclusive Computer Science, TU Dublin; Dr Brendan Jennings, Vice President for Research and Innovation, TU Dublin; Dr. Lisa Higgins, Head of Challenge Research, Science Foundation Ireland and Conor McGinn, CEO, Akara Robotics.
Speaking at the launch of the new report, Mary Rose Burke, Chief Executive Officer, Dublin Chamber, said: “Dublin Chamber welcomes the launch of this report by Amárach and Huawei. The findings demonstrate that digital technologies will play a crucial role in achieving sustainability goals and reducing carbon emissions. We in Dublin Chamber see Irish companies responding to climate change in many cases ahead of what national government is doing. They are following the customer, following their staff, and following the investor in terms of their demands on business to be green. In order to meet these demands, it is clear from this report that digital solutions are the way forward.”
At the event Huawei Ireland also announced details of the second year of its ‘TECH4HER’ Scholarship Programme which is offering €90,000 in financial support to eligible female students studying STEM subjects from three universities. With Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) and University College Dublin (UCD) part of last year’s successful inaugural campaign, the second year sees University College Cork (UCC) join the initiative which offers scholarships at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. Having handed out 11 scholarships for the 2020/21 academic year, the Huawei ‘TECH4HER’ programme will be offering a total of 21 scholarships this year.
Tony Yangxu added: "It is only by working together that can we find and deploy the critical government, industry and society-wide digital solutions required to halt climate change."
Huawei’s European Innovation Day is a pan-European campaign which this year focused on digital sustainability, the environment, the digital economy, and talent cultivation.
This summit-style event was designed to provide a platform for the technology industry, and local partners, universities, media platforms, and governments to interact and exchange ideas.
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About Huawei
Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices. With integrated solutions across four key domains – telecom networks, IT, smart devices, and cloud services – Huawei is committed to bringing digital to every person, home and organisation for a fully connected, intelligent world. Huawei employs over 194,000 people in 170 countries across the globe. Huawei has been in Ireland since 2004, with its business now serving over 3 million people and supporting over 860 direct and indirect jobs. Huawei’s business activities in Ireland continue to thrive. Intelligent connectivity with fibre and 5G technologies has begun and will empower the market of mobile networks and broadband networks with AI and IOT technologies. Huawei Ireland is working very closely with local operators and partners, and is focused on nurturing future talent and highly-skilled professionals in these areas across the country. For more information, please visit Huawei online at www.huawei.com or follow us on:
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