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Sixty university students from across the country yesterday successfully concluded Huawei’s 2022 Seeds for the Future Program.

One of the groups, Print’nX, made up of 10 students won the Tech4Good project selected by a panel of judges. The group has been shortlisted to join teams globally that will compete at the global final at the end of the year. The students’ project named 3D Printing of body organs aims to develop synthetic organs using 3D printing technology.

The Tech4Good project was introduced alongside the one-week training programme to challenge participants to examine how to leverage technology to address the country’s most pressing social and environmental issues, whilst encouraging students to increase their social entrepreneurship, problem solving and leadership skills through team work.

The eight-day programme consisted of training involving live-streamed sessions as well as pre-recorded courses accessible via Huawei’s online platform. In addition to the sessions, the students had access to presentations on tech trends in key industries by Kenyan industry experts, entrepreneurship courses and undertook the Tech4Good group project.

The 2022 cohort have also completed training on cutting-edge technology including 5G, cloud computing, AI, and IoT, whilst exploring virtually the Huawei exhibition halls. Additionally, the students have had the opportunity to interact with experts from various industries through virtual lectures designed to complement their current knowledge and learn more about Chinese culture and Chinese Historical Sites.

The Huawei Seeds for the Future programme recognises the skill gap that exists in the technology sector today across the globe and seeks to bridge the talent gap through training. The programme’s success is partly due to close collaboration with students, academia, ICT Authority under the Ministry of ICT, and various other stakeholders, and helps build a stronger and more sustainable ICT and talent ecosystem.

During his keynote address Principal Secretary for the State Department ICT and the Digital Economy John Tanui lauded Huawei as one of the institutions that has made tremendous contributions to the development in the digitations industry in Kenya whilst also focusing on youth development.

“As a country we have made significant strides in technology and innovations around it. However, ICT skills gap remains a huge challenge. I therefore take this opportunity to acknowledge Huawei for being at the forefront in providing training and building capacity therefore ensuring that we can maintain momentum with regards to the developments taking place within ICT,” he noted.

“Through the Seeds for the Future 5G program, I was able to understand Cloud computing, blockchain, AI and IOT are revolutionising the world,” Stated Victor Kitwa, from Kabete National Polytechnic, who is completing a Diploma in Information Communication Technology.

Principal of the Kabete National Polytechnic Charles Akach commended Huawei for being at the forefront of digital skills training while addressing His Excellency President William Ruto during the launch of the Virtual desktop infrastructure that followed the Seeds for the Future graduation.

“We recently became a Huawei ICT academy partner to enhance our institute,” he announced.

Over the years, Huawei has contributed significantly in building the ICT talent pipeline within the country. With the growth of technology, there needs to be ready and available talent to operate and maintain the ICT infrastructure present and create innovations critical to the country. In addition to the Seeds for the Future Program, Huawei has also signed partnerships with 50 institutions of higher learning to become Huawei ICT Academies thereby enabling their lecturers to offer courses on various emerging technologies including Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence, and Internet of Things among others.

Huawei Eastern Africa CEO Will Meng briefed the audience on Huawei’s impact “Over the past 10 years, Huawei has trained and developed more than 20 thousand people in Kenya,” he said.

“Seeds for the Future also seeks to help expose Kenyan youth to different countries and cultures. I believe that through this program the students have had a glimpse of the Chinese culture,” he added.

ICT is a crucial growth engine for different industries The Seeds for the Future is Huawei’s our flagship program. It is an initiative that aims to help cultivate young talent, ensuring that they are tech-savvy and adaptable. It aims at ensuring that young people have the skills and mindsets needed to be competitive in their future workplace.