Huawei Hosts Southeast Asia Talent Development Forum in Bangkok

Developing ICT Talent, Empowering Digital Transformation

[Bangkok, Thailand, April 5, 2017] Huawei Southeast Asia Talent Development Forum 2017 opened on Monday in Bangkok. Under the theme “Developing ICT Talent, Empowering Digital Transformation”, the two-day forum will serve as a platform for government officials, Telco operators and industry players across Southeast Asia to explore and discuss talent development strategy in the digital transformation era, and to learn from leading global operators through proven practices and experiences.

Huawei Southeast Asia Talent Development Forum 2017 opened on Monday in Bangkok

“Southeast Asia countries have invested heavily in ICT infrastructure due to the positive impact brought by digitalization and how it drives the growth of the nation’s economy. We would like to commend Huawei for its continuous, active role in such move, and its deep involvement in developing the ICT talent within the Southeast Asia Region, which have contributed to growth both economically and socially,” said Korkit Danchaivichit, Deputy Secretary General of Thailand National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) in his opening remarks at the forum.

Korkit Danchaivichit, Deputy Secretary General of Thailand NBTC

“Digital transformation has become a hot topic in many organizations, including telecom operators, vendors and governments. Most of them are still at the discussion and exploration stage. However, it is clear that these organizations are in urgent need of these talent resources – built up upon those on hand or newly acquired,” said Baker Zhou, Director of Human Resource, Huawei Southeast Asia.

Baker Zhou, Director of Human Resource, Huawei Southeast Asia

During the forum, government officials of Southeast Asia countries, senior consultants from world-leading consultancies and Huawei executives shared insights on trending topics around talent development in the digital transformation era. These included insights on the future of Digital Society and ICT transformation, global and Southeast Asia human capital trends, national ICT talent development solutions, and digital talent transformation.

Michael Macdonald, CTO Huawei Southeast Asia

“ICT has been recognized as an economy enabler, and is enabling the fourth industrial revolution – Intelligentization. It’s time to unlock ‘Digital’ and secure 10 billion USD of value to society and industry over the next 10 years, according to World Economic Forum. Telco operators should address the uncertainties brought about by new technologies and new business models. The digital era is driving telecom companies to undergo organizational change and talent transformation,” said Ivan Huang, Principal Strategy Consultant of Huawei.

Ivan Huang, Principal Strategy Consultant of Huawei

Participants considered that the development of local ICT talent was a challenge for all countries and enterprises. According to Andrew J. Warneck, Human Capital Consultant of Deloitte China, executives and business leaders in Southeast Asia face many human capital challenges. Labor costs, governance legislation, work practices, culture, and language differ markedly by country within this region. The heterogeneous nature of the region means organizations will need to continue adapting human capital strategies to the unique characteristics in each country for success across Southeast Asia.

Andrew J. Warneck, Human Capital Consultant of Deloitte China

ICT has become an important growth engine for industries. Huawei is committed to developing the ICT industry in the countries where it operates, thereby supporting socioeconomic and environmental sustainability. The company thus constantly shares ICT knowledge with local communities, supplies ICT technologies to build efficient education systems, and nurtures ICT professionals.

Seeds for the Future is Huawei's global CSR flagship program. Through this program, Huawei selects top college students and young government officials working in ICT-related departments for a study trip in China. Over the course of the program, Huawei shares its ICT expertise and experience in managing a multinational with young ICT professionals, and helps fuel the development of local ICT industries. The program had been implemented in 96 countries worldwide. Over 2,648 trainees have now visited China on study trips.

At the forum, Huawei also released its CSP Workforce Transformation Implementation Experience Exploratory Report, which is an experiential and applicatory study and summarization of the strategies and skills needed amidst digital transformation. The paper is a blend of secondary and primary research collated and interpreted through extensive study, as well as citing the information and knowledge gained through interactions with the leading CSPs globally. One of the seminal outcomes of the paper is the identification of 78 key roles which will be instrumental in driving workforce transformation.