Huawei ICT Competition registration deadline extended to allow more students to apply

The 2021-2022 Huawei ICT competition call for application has been extended to 31^st October 2021 to provide an opportunity for more students across the country to participate. So far, over 2000 students from various local universities have submitted their applications since the competition was announced in July 2021.

Huawei ICT Competition is a competitive ICT talent exchange program developed globally for university, college and TVET students. This aims to promote the healthy development of the ICT talent ecosystem and support the integration of industry and education. It targets to provide students with a platform to compete and acquire certification in order to enhance their ICT knowledge, practical and application skills, and raise their innovation awareness. Additionally, the competition provides a platform that facilitates connections between international ICT talent as well as foster collaboration between Huawei Partners, Institutions of higher learning, thereby enhancing education, growth, advancement of ICT talent and promote employability of our students.

Themed "Connection, Glory, Future", the Huawei ICT Competition brings together the industry ecosystem partners to promote the cultivation, growth, and employment of ICT young talents from universities, colleges and tertiary institutions thereby aiding the ICT talent ecosystem thrive. The competition is a practice based competition and students can choose either a Network or Cloud track. Under the Network track students compete in networking technologies including Routing and Switching, Security and WLAN while the Cloud Track features newer technologies such as Big Data, Cloud Computing, Cloud Service, Storage and Artificial Intelligence.

As the industry transforms, to meet the demands of the fast paced digital era. It is essential that organizations focus on sustaining rapid development, seizing opportunities, and making progress in this new era by treating talent as the industry’s most important resource.

Huawei has and continues to invest heavily in nurturing local ICT talent to compete equally with counterparts from across the globe. This, is in addition to growing the local ICT talent ecosystem, strengthening capacity building and increasing people’s digital competence. As a result, Huawei has partnered with 50 institutions of higher learning including University of Nairobi, Kenyatta University, Laikipia University, JKUAT, Strathmore University and Multi Media University of Kenya to drive the digital inclusion agenda in its efforts to bridge the digital divide reaching over 5000 students and 150 lectures since 2018. Recently, Huawei extended its partnership with 10 tertiary institutions across the country to provide training on emerging technologies.

Talent cultivation models have most often than not been outdated. Institutions of higher learning prioritize theories and concepts but neglect practices and competencies thereby creating a disconnect between the industry needs and the skills provided. The Huawei ICT Competition bridges this gap as it is practice based and covers the latest technologies including Network and Cloud technologies.

“The Huawei ICT Competition is an excellent opportunity for students in the related field to connect and compete with fellow students in the country and globally, learn the latest technologies and also get an opportunity to win prizes” stated Michael Kamau, Huawei ICT Academy manager.

After the registration deadline, the students will sit for the preliminary exam slated for 1^st November 2021 thereafter followed by the National Final 9^th December 2021.

In addition, to the competition the winning students get a chance to get awarded internship opportunities, Huawei devices including laptops and smart devises as well as Huawei Certification vouchers. Out of the 500 students that will be selected to compete at the National final, the top 15 students will qualify for the Regional final.

Over 10,000 students have applied to join the Huawei ICT Competition since its launch in 2018. In previous years, Kenyan students have qualified for the Regional Final organized in South Africa and Global Final in China.

In 2020, Two Kenyan teams of 3 students each won 1^st place at the Global Final round which was organized virtually due to the global pandemic. 15 other countries within the Sub Saharan Region including Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana and Tanzania are also participating in the 2021 competition.

Huawei ICT Competition registration link - https://reurl.cc/MA7OV4