22 teams from 11 Middle Eastern & Central Asian Countries in Huawei ICT final

TDT | Manama                                                        

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Under the patronage of His Highness Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, His Majesty the King’s Representative for Humanitarian Work and Youth Affairs, and in partnership with Bahrain Polytechnic and the University of Bahrain, the Regional Final of the Huawei ICT Competition 2023-2024 Middle East & Central Asia is scheduled to kick off in the Kingdom of Bahrain, from December 19-21, 2023.

The seventh edition of Huawei’s long-standing flagship ICT talent development initiative will witness 22 teams from 11 Middle Eastern & Central Asian countries, including Bahrain, Pakistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, and Oman.

Since its launch in 2017, more than 100,000 college students have signed up for the first six competitions.

Shunli Wang, Vice President of Huawei Middle East & Central Asia, said: “The Huawei ICT Competition underlines our commitment to nurturing young minds across the region while being a focal platform that brings together visionary government leaders, forward-thinking academia, and enthusiastic students.”

The Huawei ICT Competition 2023-2024 Middle East & Central Asia chapter kicked off in August this year and covered 21 countries in the region.

With the support of UNESCO, and more than 20 ministries, operators, and industry partners, Huawei has attracted more than 27,500 students from over 600 universities across the region.

The 2022- 2023 regional edition featured 15 teams shortlisted from an initial list of 19,300 participants representing 472 universities and 11 countries across the Middle East and Central Asia.

The regional final of the Huawei ICT Competition is a culmination of four-month-long intense national-level contests that took place across 11 markets.

66 students and 20 tutors, divided into 22 teams, emerged victorious and will now battle it out in Bahrain to be crowned ME & CA winners and proceed to the global finals that will take place in May 2024 in China.

Each team comprises of three students and one tutor.

Iraq, Pakistan, Lebanon, and Saudi have three teams each, while Jordan, Kazakhstan, and Bahrain have two teams each.

One team is participating from the UAE, Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait each.

The 7th edition now features two more tracks for Cloud and Computing, which provides students with a wider platform to display professional skills.

 Students will participate in the Practice Competition that includes the Network, Cloud, and Computing Tracks.

The competition will examine students' theoretical knowledge and hands-on ICT skills, as well as their ability to work in a team.

Participants will be ranked according to their scores for lab exams.

The Opening Ceremony of the regional final of the 2023-2024 edition of the Huawei ICT Competition Middle East & Central Asia (ME & CA) will take place on December 19, 2023, at Bahrain Polytechnic.

The students will participate in a written and practical exam on the campus, while the professors from universities across the region will join the Instructor Summit.

The Closing and Awarding Ceremony will be held on December 21, 2023, at the University of Bahrain.

A panel discussion featuring regional ICT leaders on the topic “Building the ICT talent ecosystem” will be held during the event as well.

Huawei ICT Competition is targeted at working with UNESCO, government authorities, colleges and universities in the Middle East & Central Asia to identify, support and grow the future leaders of ICT.

The program attempts to bridge the gap between the classroom and the workplace, thus enhancing students’ future employment opportunities in the ICT sector through knowledge sharing on the latest ICT developments, international trends, and hands-on skills development training at Huawei’s state-of-the-art labs, R&D centers and facilities.