Global tech giant Huawei contributes to Thailand's digital talent cultivation

(Photo: tech4goodawards.com)

On January 20, 2022, in global tech leader Huawei's first global Tech4Good competition, Thailand team “Are u Ok” project took gold for their solution that helps patients in Thailand receive faster emergency treatment. They achieved this through advanced route planning and real-time communications enabled by 5G, AI, and cloud technologies, shortening the time patients spend traveling to medical centres and improving their chance of survival. They will have the opportunity to meet with an investor to pitch their idea, have private consultation or coaching sessions with Huawei executives, and be shortlisted to speak at international forums and other events.

The Tech4Good Competition is a new project started in 2021 under Huawei’s flagship Seeds for the Future digital skill training program. Tech4Good asks students to identify a social issue and propose a technical solution for it based on the ICT skills they learn throughout the program. This competition is also designed to cultivate leadership and team work through practice and group competition.

During her opening remarks at the award ceremony, Catherine Chen, Huawei’s Senior Vice President, Director of the Board, explained how this year’s program was a particular success, saying, “The participation of Seeds for the Future program was record-breaking in 2021. Your feedback and love for this program have been truly heart-warming. Your generation’s passion and drive to learn never fail to impress me.” Chen further emphasised that the program aimed to foster inclusiveness, unity and cooperation in a contentious international environment along with other social goals.

Digital talent cultivation has always been a strategic focus for Huawei Thailand. In a previous interview with CEO of Huawei Thailand Abel Deng, he introduced that Seeds for the Future was launched in 2008 in Thailand to develop skilled, local ICT talent and bridge communication gaps between countries and cultures. In it, young people from around the world study advanced ICT technologies and build real-world expertise and skills. The 2021 program had more than 3,500 participants from over 117 countries, bringing the total number of participants over the past 13 years to 120,000 students representing 139 countries and regions. In Thailand, this program has benefited over 215 students from leading universities.

In November 2021, Huawei Thailand held its annual “Seeds for the Future” event in Bangkok with the aim to sharpen the ICT skills of young tech enthusiasts. 15 undergraduates from Chulalongkorn University, Thammasat University, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT), King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL), Khon Kaen University and Rangsit University were selected. During this intensive 8-day program, students were exposed to the latest knowledge of 5G, IoT, AI, Cloud Computing, as well as a dynamic classroom where they worked together on the “TECH4Good” project to discuss ways we can make our society better through technology.

Under the mission of “Grow in Thailand, Contribute to Thailand” for over 22 years, Huawei has been working with diverse stakeholders to increase Thailand’s digital competitiveness and ICT talents preparation for a digital Thailand. In 2019, Huawei ASEAN Academy (Thailand) was established with an investment around 180M THB, aimed to cultivate 100,000 ICT talents for Thailand in 5 years. In March 2021, Huawei ASEAN Academy EEC branch was established to support the digital transformation of SMEs in the EEC region and support the country’s Industry 4.0 blueprint. Until now, this academy has provided digital training for over 41,000 ICT professionals and 1,300 SMEs.

Mr. Deng stressed that Huawei was inspired to see Thailand is rapidly becoming a leader in ASEAN for 5G infrastructure and industry applications, which called for greater efforts to upskill and reskill the digital workforce especially in the post-pandemic recovery process. In Thailand, digital economy is expected to account for 30% of GDP by 2030, and by the fourth quarter of 2021, Thailand has deployed over 20,000 5G base stations, with 4.2 million 5G users. Bangkok is ranked as the top 10 5G City in the world by GSMA. Meanwhile, Huawei has worked with partners to accelerate the application of 5G in Thailand’s pillar industry like agriculture, healthcare and manufacturing.

Since its establishment in Thailand in 1999, Huawei has been committed to actively support the country, people, and organisation toward digital transformation. In March 2021, Mr. Deng received the Prime Minister award of “Digital Corporation of the Year” from HE General Prayut Chan-o-cha. It is the only company to receive this award. In November 2021, during a virtual meeting between HE General Prayut Chan-o-cha and Huawei CEO Mr. Ren Zhengfei, both parties emphasised the need to strengthen ICT talent cooperation to support Thailand digital development. It is told that Huawei will continuously invest in four domains in Thailand, which are 5G, Data Center & Cloud, Digital Power, and Talents Development, in order to powering Thailand to be Digital Hub in ASEAN.