Beirut, December 28, 2017: A team of three students from Lebanese University in Beirut, Ahmad Ali Hijazi, Oussama Hussein Kandakji and Hussein Abdallah Shaito, walked away with the first prize at Huawei’s International ICT Skill Competition finals and award ceremony in Shenzhen, China this week. The winners were selected following a grueling 5 months of qualifying rounds that saw participation from thirteen teams across 10 countries in the Middle East. Their professor Oday Daher additionally walked away with the competition’s Excellent Tutor award, one of six tutors to win the coveted prize.
The ICT Skill Competition brought 13 finalist teams to China, which included 15 female students from the region. The finalists competed in day-long finals, participated in a technology workshop by global ICT experts, witnessed a high-level panel discussion by senior delegates from eight Middle East countries to China, and were invited to attend the ICT Talent Cultivation Summit.
The award ceremony was attended by senior Huawei executives, including Ms. Chen Lifang, Corporate Senior Vice President of Huawei Technologies, Mr. Simon Lacey, Vice President of Huawei Global Government Affairs Department, and Mr. Charles Yang, President of Huawei Middle East. Her Excellency Millia Jabbour, Lebanese Ambassador in China, delivered the award to the winning team on stage, in the presence of other senior representatives from participating countries’ embassies and consulates. Other high-ranking government officials at the event included Mr. Ding Lianpu, Director of the Center for China-Foreign People-to-People Exchanges in China’s Ministry of Education, and Professor Zhao Jianhua, Deputy Director for the International Center for Higher Education Innovation at UNESCO.
In addition to a US$ 30,000 cash prize for the most outstanding team, Huawei awarded certificates, trophies, and prizes to the teams, tutors, and institutions that took part in the competition. The two teams to win second place both hailed from Pakistan, while third place went to three teams from Bahrain, Oman, and Jordan. The following teams from Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Iraq all won Excellence Prizes, while six tutors and five academic institutions received the Excellent Tutor and Best Academy Prizes. But more importantly, the all-expense paid trip gave the finalists invaluable exposure to a leading global company’s expertise and a priceless cultural experience.
“Building a pool of high quality ICT talent is a critical success factor for governments aiming to transition to knowledge-based economies. As one of the world’s leading innovators, knowledge-transfer has always a core pillar of the Huawei ethos. Combining this with our commitment to support governments in the region as they work towards achieving their national vision goals, we are proud of the ICT Skill Competition and all that it has achieved over the past five months. The platform has demonstrated beyond a doubt that the young talent in the region has the potential to mature into world-class experts. Today, we re-dedicate ourselves to working even more closely with students across the region to better equip the next generation of technology leaders,” said Charles Yang, President, Huawei Middle East.
Lebanese University came forward to participate in an initiative that was supported by the Ministry of Telecommunications as well the Chinese embassy in Lebanon. All participants underwent highly selective examinations at the national level. Participants worked in real laboratories and tackled some of the industry’s most complex challenges related to cloud computing, switching, routing, and other key ICT solutions and technologies related to digital transformation.
In partnership with 14 government ministries, the Huawei Middle East ICT Skill Competition 2017 was hugely successful in its mission to unearth and cultivate the region’s finest ICT talent, bringing together more than 10,285 students from 121 educational institutions. The 13 finalist teams had a unique opportunity to learn from Huawei’s leading global ICT on an all-expense paid trip to Huawei’s headquarters in China.
About Huawei
Huawei is a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider. Our aim is to enrich life and improve efficiency through a better connected world, acting as a responsible corporate citizen, innovative enabler for the information society, and collaborative contributor to the industry. Driven by customer-centric innovation and open partnerships, Huawei has established an end-to-end ICT solutions portfolio that gives customers competitive advantages in telecom and enterprise networks, devices and cloud computing. Huawei’s 180,000 employees worldwide are committed to creating maximum value for telecom operators, enterprises, and consumers. Our innovative ICT solutions, products, and services are used in more than 170 countries and regions, serving over one-third of the world’s population. Founded in 1987, Huawei is a private company fully owned by its employees.
For more information, please visit Huawei online at www.huawei.com or follow us on:
http://www.linkedin.com/company/Huawei
http://www.twitter.com/Huawei
http://www.facebook.com/Huawei
http://www.google.com/+Huawei
http://www.youtube.com/Huawei
Huawei Enterprise Business Group
The Enterprise Business Group service offerings focus on the enterprise infrastructure, enterprise communications, data centers, and industry applications. To support the cloud-computing era and innovative new business models, the Enterprise Business Group also provides cloud computing-based data center and enterprise applications. The Enterprise Business Group has set up departmental organizations in over 100 countries and regions.
By leveraging its years of technical expertise and unmatched R&D capabilities, the Enterprise Business group is well-positioned to grow together with customers and partners for the future cloud computing and ICT convergence era.