By: Awais Abbasi
Shenzhen, China: The Huawei ICT Competition 2022-2023 Global Final concluded with great fanfare, concluding the seventh installment of this prestigious competition. Making a remarkable return to in-person format after two years, the event brought together 146 teams from 36 countries to compete for the top honors. Prior to the Final, over 120,000 students from more than 2,000 universities across 74 countries and regions actively participated in the highly acclaimed ICT Competition.
A contingent of talented students from Pakistan emerged victorious at the recently concluded Huawei ICT Competition 2022-2023 Global Final, held at the Huawei Headquarters in Shenzhen, China. The teams secured the second and third prizes in the Network Track and third prizes in the Innovation Track. The second prize in the Network Track was achieved by the team comprising Muhammad Faeez, Asad Anwer, and Faheem Yar Khuhawar from Mehran University of Engineering and Technology Jamshoro, along with Maryam Fareed from Lahore College for Women University. In the same Network Track category, the team consisting of Fatima Shafique from Mehran University of Engineering and Technology Jamshoro, Eman Yaqoob from Lahore College for Women University, Umar Raza from FAST-nu Islamabad, and Muhammad Zubair from the University of Engineering and Technology Lahore secured the third prize, among other global teams.
Furthermore, two Pakistani teams, Team Glam and Team Quran Ustads, garnered recognition by winning the third prize in the Innovation Track. Team Glam comprised Hasan Ali Khattak, Moaaz Tameer, and Sidra Farooqui, while Team Quran Ustads included Minhal Zafar, Hyder Ali, Muhammad Shaheer, and Noor-ul-ain, all from FAST – National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences, Islamabad.
This year witnessed a significant milestone in terms of gender representation, with the proportion of female contestants surpassing 21%, exhibiting an 8% increase compared to three years ago.
Shunli Wang, Vice President of Huawei Middle East & Central Asia, congratulated the winning Middle East teams, emphasizing the pivotal role of digital talents and skills in the region’s future plans and visions. Huawei remains committed to fostering local talent development and expanding ICT education resources across academies and universities in the region.
Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, expressed her best wishes for the Huawei ICT Competition through a video message. She acknowledged the competition’s contribution to enhancing students’ digital skills and finding sustainable solutions for development. UNESCO fully supports Huawei’s initiatives to improve global connectivity and digital skills in the education industry.
Teams from the Middle East and Central Asia delivered exceptional performances throughout the event. In addition to the Pakistani teams, teams from the UAE and Kazakhstan clinched the first prize in the Network Track, while teams from Iraq, Jordan, and Bahrain secured the second prize in the same category, among other global contenders. Furthermore, the Saudi Arabian team claimed the third prize in the Network Track, alongside other teams globally, while teams from Jordan and Kazakhstan secured the third prize in the Cloud and Innovation tracks.
The Huawei ICT Competition serves as a platform for college students worldwide to showcase their skills and engage in ICT-related exchanges. Huawei has collaborated with 2,200 universities to establish Huawei ICT Academies, enabling the training of over 200,000 students annually. Since its inception in 2015, the competition has attracted more than 580,000 students from 85 countries and regions.
Globally Huawei is committed to build 7,000 Huawei ICT Academies in total by 2026, train more than 1 million students every year, greatly improving students’ digital literacy and skills for a more dynamic and inclusive digital world. In the Middle East region alone, Huawei has trained over 150,000 ICT talents and are committed to achieving more in collaboration with its partners while over 57,000 people have obtained Huawei certification. Also, the number of Huawei ICT Academies in the region has reached to186.