Huawei
South Africa has added online training in Artificial Intelligence (AI) to a
portfolio of free training it offers to South African ICT students.
Speaking
at the online opening ceremony for the 2020 Seeds for the Future training
programme, Huawei CEO Spawn Fan said this was part of its commitment to training in 4IR technologies such as 5G
and cloud computing, which it kicked off last year.
Seeds for
the Future is Huawei’s global flagship CSR programme, designed to develop
skilled, local ICT talent and bridge communication between countries and
cultures. In South Africa the programme is run in partnership with the
Department of Communications and Digital Technologies. Every year, a group of
outstanding students are given the chance to study new technologies and
experience Chinese culture on a study trip to Beijing and Shenzhen.
This
year’s Seeds for the Future is going online, from 24 August, due to the global
Covid 19 pandemic. The 50 course participants – selected from hundreds of
applicants – will follow live-streamed lectures and online course material. The
course includes modules on 5G broadband, cloud computing and the Internet of
Things, as well as virtual tours of the Huawei campus in Dongguan, China;
interactions with other course participants from around the world and access to
Chinese cultural resources.
At the
launch, Fan announced that Huawei had also begun its first free online AI
training programme for university and TVET college students in Gauteng and
Limpopo. A total of 122 students are attending, and by the end of the course
they will be able to design, develop, and innovate AI products and solutions.
“To
function in the emerging Fourth Industrial Revolution, ICT skills will be
indispensable – for organisations, for individuals, and for society,” said Fan.
The launch
was attended by Minster of Communications and Digital Technologies Stella
Ndabeni-Abrahams, who endorsed Huawei’s investment in youth ICT development and
highlighted the importance of tech skills in the new economy.
She said
the government was committed to working with progressive partners that invest
in the people of South Africa so they too can participate effectively and
meaningfully in the digital future.
Fan said
that Huawei was conscious of the need to enhance South Africa’s ICT ecosystem
on every front, and that Seeds for the Future programme was part of its
commitment to doing this.
“We
believe it is critical to unleash the potential of South Africa’s young people
– especially women – so they can become agents of their own digital
empowerment,” he said. “This Women’s
Month, it is also important to continue bridging the gender gap in the ICT
sector. As we march into the fourth industrial revolution, we must use
opportunities like these to empower women in ICT, for the benefit of all of
society.”
Li Nan,
Charge d’Affairs of the Chinese embassy said that initiatives such as Seeds for
the Future encouraged localisation of talent in African countries, and were a
great step towards fulfilling aspirations of national development.
“A sustainable
supply of ICT professionals is an essential pillar of digital transformation,”
he said. “China supports South Africa’s efforts to explore its national
development with the digital economy as the core.”
Fan said
that the emerging ICT ecosystem was globally integrated, as evidenced by the
worldwide move to 5G technology. To address this, Huawei had been running free
5G training courses for ICT students over the past year, which is progressing
well, despite the lockdown.
