- Sustainable development, ICT
talent cultivation and empowering women in technology was a key highlight of
Huawei MEA Innovation Day 2022
- Jawad Abbasi, Head of MENA, GSMA,
highlighted how mobile connectivity and technology solutions can enable global
savings of around 11 gigatonnes of carbon emissions by 2030
ISLAMABAD, OCT 11: Huawei, a
leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT)
infrastructure and smart devices, today held the second annual Huawei
Innovation Day with customers, partners and technology experts from the Middle
East and Africa. Held in parallel with GITEX GLOBAL 2022, the Huawei MEA
Innovation Day 2022 was organized in partnership with the Arab ICT Organization
(AICTO) under the theme of "Collaboration to Unleash Innovation for
Sustainable Digital Future".
The annual event gathered the
region's government leaders from different sectors, industry analysts, ICT
ecosystem partners and international standardization, and Huawei's senior
leadership team.
Jeff Wang, Global President of
Public Affairs and Communications Huawei, delivered the opening keynote speech
to highlight Huawei's commitment to supporting the MEA digital transformation
and ICT sustainability future.
"Today, we have heard from
customers and partners from the Middle East and Africa who are leveraging our
technologies to enable new business models, boost competitiveness and spur
sustainable economic growth." Wang said, adding, "We also heard
amazing stories of how technology is being applied to solving some of the
greatest challenges facing humanity such as climate change, energy transition,
inclusion and women empowerment. Such outcomes inspire us to continue
innovating to power a better future for all."
Mohamed Ben Amor, Secretary
General of the Arab ICT Organization (AICTO), the event partner, delivered the
keynote speech, highlighting the importance of collaboration between various
regional stakeholders and global partners to build an integrated ICT ecosystem
for a sustainable digital economy. "We are delighted with this
collaboration with Huawei around an insightful topic increasingly becoming the
keystone for sustainable technological development," H.E Ben Amor stated,
adding, "If "innovation" was always and will remain the engine
of economic and social progress with a profound transformational impact on our
lives, technological innovation will be, without any doubt, the compulsory way
towards a better digital future.
Therefore, we highly trust that technological
innovation will help transform challenges into opportunities and shorten the
path to achieving our common goals. This requires, in particular, a strong
regional and international cooperation framework to strengthen national and
regional innovation systems and models leading to innovative and sustainable
technological initiatives."
Steven Yi, President of Huawei
Middle East & Africa, added: "We are honored with the distinguished
audience in our Innovation Day MEA 2022. Our mission remains to bring the
broadest ICT ecosystem together to inspire change and deliver socioeconomic
growth. We are hopeful the lessons we take from the event today will help bring us closer to an open, intelligent
world that has been our mission from Day 1."
Additionally, various keynotes
were also delivered by H.E. Zhang Yiming, Ambassador of the People's Republic
of China to UAE, H.E. Dr. Fadia Kiwan, Director General of Arab Women
Organization, H.E. Dr. Khaled Wali, Director of the ICT Department at the
League of Arab States, H.E. Eng. Mohamed
Ben Amor, Secretary General of the Arab ICT Organization, , H.E. Dr. Mohammed
Al-Ohali, President of KFU (King Faisal University) and Jawad Abbasi, Head of
MENA, GSMA.
From his side, Jawad Abbasi, Head
of MENA, GSMA, said, “Mobile connectivity is bringing endless potential to all
business sectors and also making possible partnerships between sectors. From
automotive to aviation, education to entertainment, manufacturing to the
metaverse, mobile connectivity has a massive enablement effect.
In climate action, last year at
COP26, the GSMA called on business leaders and policymakers to start using
smart technology to achieve net zero by 2050, and limit global warming to 1.5C.
For example, if four main sectors (energy, transport, buildings and
manufacturing) expand their use of mobile technology solutions, this would enable
global savings of around 11 gigatonnes of carbon emissions by 2030; equivalent
to roughly 40% of the total required reduction!”
This year's Huawei MEA Innovation
Day covered themes such as green ICT for the sustainable future of sectors and
industries, the ICT talent ecosystem, and empowering women in ICT in the MEA
region. In a panel hosted by Toni Eid, founder of Telecom Review Group &
CEO of Trace Media, panelists discussed the importance of open partnerships and
collaborations for shared success in building the ICT Ecosystem in MEA, the
role of Digital Power in telecom networks, and green solutions in cloud.
The panel was attended by H.E. Dr. Elsadig
Gamaleldeen Elsadig Karar, Director General of the Telecommunications and Post
Regulatory Authority of Sudan (TPRA), Dr. Jassim Haji, President, International
Group of Artificial Intelligence, Dr. Fahem Al Nuaimi, Ankabut CEO, UAE and Dr.
Ammar Al Husaini, Deputy Director General at Central Agency for Information
Technology, Kuwait.
Huawei also delved into emerging
technologies in the Middle East and Africa, highlighting the importance of
cybersecurity and discussing the benefits of integrating technologies like 5G,
Cloud, and AI in supporting verticals, key industries, businesses, and public
services
A key topic Huawei explored at
the Huawei MEA Innovation Day this year is building talent ecosystems to create
future ICT leaders and strategies for strengthening the ICT skill development
path for key sectors and industries. ICT talent is significant in driving
digital transformation and realizing national plans and visions. In a panel
discussion with key industry and academics, the role of public-private
partnerships in fostering innovation and equipping the youth with the right
tools to become future ICT leaders was highlighted.
The second panel discussion
moderated by Caroline Faraj, CNN VP and CNN Arabic Editor-in-Chief, shed light
on the important topic of empowering the role of women in tech. In the digital
era, Huawei strongly believes that more opportunities and support must be given
to women to ensure they have access to the education and training they need to
be competitive in the digital economy. Equipping women with these skills has
proven to promote social integration and inclusive and diversified societies.
The panel was attended by Dr. Fatma Taher, IEEE UAE Section Chair, Dr. Eman
Said Al Abri, Dean of the College of Computing and Information Sciences, the
University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Oman, Dr.Mardin Abdullah Anwar,
Director of ICT and Statistics at Salahaddin University, Erbil, Iraq and Rania
Halimeh, Regional Director, META, Logical Operations.
Panelists discussed the
importance of public and private partnerships to nurture innovation, local
female ICT talents and create ICT future leaders, improve university
curriculums and programs in light of ICT accelerated innovation, and fill the
talent gap in cybersecurity, among other topics.
Shunli Wang, Huawei's Vice
President in the Middle East delivered the closing remarks during the event,
and highlighted the need to lead new ways for public-private sector
collaborations to drive shared success and "Unleash Innovation for a
Sustainable Digital Future in MEA region". Wang also mentioned Huawei’s
focus on 5.5G which will soon become a reality, enabling a 10 Gbps experience
and a hundred billion connections.
“More markets in MEA – such as
Jordan – have already announced the launch of 5G. We look forward to supporting
Jordan in introducing the benefits of 5G, and we call for maintaining a fair,
unbiased, and transparent 5G business environment. We believe that providing
equal opportunities to global 5G vendors based on existing work track record,
global experience, cost, and international standards effectiveness will ensure
raising the bar in the competitiveness of the local telecom market and
efficiently contribute to the national plans and visions,” concluded Wang.
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