Steven Yi, President of Huawei Middle East & Central Asia, discusses their investment in the region’s economic and technological future.
Undoubtedly, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry is the foundation for any country’s prosperous future and overall global leadership ranking. Across all facets of our lives—whether in our daily lives, work, corporate financial reports, the countries’ national vision, or across all industries and economies—it is very clear that everything is centred around digital transformation, inspired by intelligence and built on green-quality connectivity. In this era, where intelligence and digital transformation are reshaping industries and economies, it is fundamentally important for countries to secure transformation resources, mainly talented people, and build the needed favourable environment for a sustainable cultivation process.
Huawei’s comprehensive, structured journey to expand a healthy ICT talent ecosystem is not just an educational initiative – it’s an investment in the region’s economic and technological future. Huawei empowers countries to drive sustainable innovations in key industries by equipping individuals with world-class ICT skills and certifications.
This completely aligns with and supports the region’s national policies and vision. In the Middle East, countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar are climbing global digital competitiveness rankings thanks to their national policies, like Saudi Vision 2030, UAE Centennial 2071, Qatar Vision 2030, and the region’s growing pool of ICT professionals. They all target more GDP growth and economic diversification through industrialising ICT and industry digitalisation. Higher green energy contribution is also one of the key initiatives. Central Asia countries are also making significant progress. For example, Uzbekistan’s and Kazakhstan’s 2030 Strategies highlight digital technologies and ambitious goals of building a regional digital hub. They also laser focus on digital talent as part of their IT outsourcing strategy.
ICT Talent for Intelligence & Intelligence for ICT Talent
People and enterprises used to argue about the main transformation drivers – is it driven by business needs or advanced technologies? Regardless of the chosen answer, the primary resource and lifeblood for transformation is the skilled ICT talents. These are the minds who innovate, the muscles that execute, and the hearts that pump intelligence into all other industries, enhancing productivity and outcomes. For all intents and purposes, we can refer to this as “ICT Talent for Intelligence”. This factual phrase can also be read reversely, “Intelligence for ICT Talent.” It describes the collective need for advanced technology innovations in cultivating and developing ICT Talents. This is certainly needed to enhance process efficiency and the quality of talent and ensure continuous development and skill upgrades. Huawei Middle East and Central Asia Region believes in and champions this principle, “ICT Talent for Intelligence & Intelligence for ICT Talent”.
Huawei ICT Talents Strategy and Middle East & Central Asia Leadership
I am honoured to lead Huawei’s efforts in the Middle East and Central Asia Region, which clearly stands at the forefront of innovations and ambitions. GCC countries are really frontrunners in this aspect as it is not only driving early adoption of advanced innovative technologies like AI, 5G, and 5G-Advanced but also serving world-class innovative services and applications.
Central Asia countries’ governments have ambitions to transform their countries and make them a global digital hub. Honoured to serve this region for more than a quarter of a century, Huawei’s foundational business partnership strategy is its commitment to nurturing and developing ICT talents who are skilled and well-equipped to create a better future for themselves and their countries. We believe that building a comprehensive, healthy ICT talent ecosystem is directly mapped into trillions of dollars of economic growth, millions of jobs, and hundreds of thousands of skilled university graduates benefiting thousands of industries. That’s why Huawei has been laser-focused on the continuous development and expansion of this ICT talents ecosystem by bringing global expertise in advanced ICT, R&D capabilities, and industrial experience to this region, collaborating with governments, organisations, universities, and industries.
Over the last 10 years, through a structured, comprehensive, and multifaceted platform, Huawei has been empowering the next generation of transformation leaders, ensuring a continuously developed and sustainable ICT talent ecosystem. This holistic one-stop mechanism for a competitive digital talent ecosystem covers three different scenarios: technology, business, and strategy across the whole life cycle from gaps analysis to planning to cultivation and, finally, to the assessment phase. This structured process ensures that individuals are technically skilled and equipped with the mindset to tackle real-world challenges.
Huawei ICT Academies Powering the Intelligent Future
Although Huawei understands the critical role of universities and academic programs in the learning process and in providing students with the necessary tools to solve industrial problems, we also believe that by jointly studying technology tools and learning about industries and enterprise transformation demand, well-rounded ICT talent will be created that is workforce-ready and can deliver a more significant positive impact.
This was precisely our philosophy in establishing more than 260 Huawei ICT Academies partnering with reputable universities in 19 countries across the Middle East & Central Asia region. Besides creating a favourable environment and cultivating skilled digital talents, ICT Academies unleash talent potential and stimulate their vitality through active job fairs and internship programs. ICT Academies also bring in the most advanced intelligent platform to transform higher education through innovative smart campuses and adopting artificial intelligence in the full life cycle of the learning process. Participants gain access to Huawei’s cutting-edge technology and tools, ensuring they are familiar with the latest industry standards. Additionally, certifications such as Huawei Certified ICT Associate (HCIA) and Huawei Certified ICT Expert (HCIE) validate their skills and increase their employability at Huawei and the global market.
Huawei ICT Competition and Global Exposure
Students are also encouraged to participate in the annual Huawei ICT Competition program. In this program, they can compete and connect with peers from all over the world and get exposed to global world transformation fronts, adding another dimension to their skills and knowledge necessary to solve industrial problems in their countries. Huawei’s ICT Academy and ICT Competition have developed thanks to support from governments, national policies, partners’ trust, and Huawei’s consistent commitment to value creation and rapid expansion of the ICT talent ecosystem.
In 2024, Huawei expanded its leading talent development initiatives to include collaborations with global organizations like the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE), bringing global learning standards to local markets. To ensure long-term innovation and ICT talent growth, Huawei provides ongoing mentorship programs where young talents can collaborate, experiment, and develop solutions tailored to the market needs. These hubs also foster entrepreneurship by connecting students with investors and industry stakeholders. Over the last decade, Huawei has trained half a million ICT talents and is committed to cultivating one million ICT talents in the region in the next 10 years.
Huawei ICT Academy and The Intelligence Era
This year, as we begin our second decade of our ICT talent commitment, to adapt to rapid developments in AI, we are launching a more comprehensive program as an evolution of our ICT Academy work. The program encompasses a thousand-mile exploration journey, collaborating with hundreds of universities to empower an intelligent future. We will gear it up for countries to own their future with our leading platform, developing many more talents.
Huawei’s commitment to ICT talent cultivation in the Middle East and Central Asia is limitless. It’s a strategic investment in the region’s economic future. By aligning its programs with market needs and countries’ national visions, Huawei is enabling a new generation of professionals to drive innovation, create jobs, and significantly boost GDP.
Image Credit: Huawei
