Huawei reaffirms cybersecurity commitment, agreements on data openness and transparency

ISLAMABAD, MAR 18: On the sidelines of this week’s Milipol Qatar summit, the President of Huawei Middle East reaffirmed the company’s commitment to supporting digital transformation across the Middle East by building stronger ICT ecosystems supported by cooperative cybersecurity mitigation programs. This ecosystem will ultimately contribute to the realization of national development visions over the coming years.

When it comes to 5G in particular, Huawei has noted that the GCC countries have been among the world’s first wave of 5G deployments, now becoming a reference point for global commercial use. These investments will demonstrate their value once again during mega-events like the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, Hajj season and similar events enabling brand-new experiences such as 8K live broadcasts and exciting in-home viewer experiences through augmented and virtual reality.

“The use cases of 5G are almost unlimited in terms of healthcare, education, entertainment, transportation, energy, and more,” said Charles Yang, President of Huawei Middle East. “Nonetheless, with the rapid development of 5G together with AI and cloud industries, countries in the region are rightfully attaching great importance to data sovereignty and cybersecurity. Huawei is committed to cooperative cybersecurity mitigation programs while never putting commercial interests ahead of cybersecurity policies. I reiterate that Huawei welcomes signing cybersecurity agreement with governments to ensure openness, transparency, and trust.”

Over recent days, Huawei has been working closely with other global manufacturers, security and safety experts, governments, and enterprises at Milipol to help establish a more secure digital ecosystem in the region.Building and fully implementing an end-to-end global cybersecurity assurance and privacy protection system is one of Huawei’s most crucial strategies for the region, according to Yang.

In 2020 alone, Huawei supported the stable operations of over 300 networks internationally, and helped operators to provide online services and minimize the impact of the pandemic on their business. Huawei has also signed more than 1,000 contracts for industrial 5G applications in more than 20 industries, demonstrating the trust that governments and its customers have in Huawei.

 “Our responsibility has always been to make secure, trustworthy, and high-quality products,” noted Yang. “Huawei has not had any major cybersecurity incidents while working with more than 500 telecom providers for nearly 20 years in 170 countries. No other vendor can claim this level of cybersecurity success.”

In parallel with its cybersecurity emphasis, Huawei is doubling down on its research efforts in the region and internationally. The company is already one of the largest patent holders in the world. In 2020, Huawei was the top filer of patents for the fourth consecutive year, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The company has also been leading in areas like 5G patents for some time, and has in turn been featured on rankings such as the EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard in 2020.

“In the post-pandemic era, local governments and enterprises are all actively pushing for industrial digitalization, upgrading smart systems and solutions to enhance the level of public services,” said Yang.“As a consequence, they are looking at enhanced cybersecurity and privacy frameworks to guide how that transformation can happen. New policies, organizational structures and processes will need to be determined, and will ultimately nurture a vibrant ecosystem that promotes innovation in the Middle East.”

That future will also require bolstering local ICT talent, added Yang. Huawei's talent ecosystem currently consists of four parts: a Seeds for the Future program, the Huawei ICT Competitions, an internship program, and various ICT Academies. Yang also cited how in 2020, the LearnOn online learning platform was launched in the Middle East. Over the last five years, this talent the ecosystem has included work with 440 universities in the region, more than 20 ministries and commissions, with more than 35,000 people being trained and over 9,000 being certified by Huawei in areas like 5G, AI, and cloud. Yang stressed that the company will continue to work with local universities, partners, governments, and enterprise customers to cultivate more qualified ICT talent.

“With powerful technologies, a local talent ecosystem, and well-established cybersecurity frameworks, we are confident that advanced digital applications across all industries can become more widespread in the region” concluded Yang.

Huawei’s cybersecurity practices have already gained the trust of global value chain partners and industry-leading organizations. To date, more than 700 cities and 228 Fortune 500 companies—among which 58 are from the Fortune 100—have selected Huawei as a digital transformation partner.

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