Winners of Huawei APAC ICT Competition 2023 announced

[Jakarta, Indonesia, March 20, 2023] The winners of Huawei APAC ICT Competition 2023 were announced today at an award ceremony hosted in Jakarta, Indonesia. The regional competition attracted more than 4,800 Huawei ICT Academy students as well as teachers from 290 leading universities and colleges from 10 countries. During the ceremony, Indonesia’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology and Huawei committed to continue their collaboration on smart campuses and the digital transformation of education in Indonesia.

Huawei ICT Competition includes the Network and Cloud Tracks, which challenge students’ theoretical knowledge and hands-on ICT skills as well as their ability to work in a team. For its entry in the Network track, University Malaya won the first prize. Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) and Nanyang Polytechnic claimed the second and third prize in the category. In the Cloud Track, Chinese University of Hong Kong won the first prize, while the second and third prize went to National University of Singapore and ITB. Meanwhile, Tay Bee Sim from Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Nissha Kinaya Maureen Sibayak from ITB and the Cloud track team King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang won the special “Women in Tech” prize, designed to encourage more female engagement in the ICT industry. Winners will take part in the Global Final of Huawei ICT Competition in May 2023.

The Asia-Pacific region is a thriving hub of the digital economy, but it has also witnessed a widening gap in ICT talent. To address this issue, Huawei launched Huawei ICT Competition with the theme of “Connection, Glory, and Future”. Moreover, via its ICT Academy and ICT Competition, Huawei has currently formed partnerships with 290 universities and nurtured over 51,000 digital talents in Asia-Pacific.

Opening the award ceremony, Mr. Zhang Zhengjun, Vice President of Public Affairs and Corporate Communications at Huawei Asia Pacific introduced Huawei’s PIPES talent development model in Asia-Pacific. “Composed of Platforms, Innovation, Professionalism, Experience, and Skills, PIPES is designed to provide tailored training programs to individuals from all walks of life, including the young generation, government officials, ICT practitioners, entrepreneurs, and the general public. With PIPES, we are establishing a robust talent pipeline, not just for ourselves, but also for the digital future of the entire region,” Zhang explained.

Dr. Piti Srisangnam, Executive Director of ASEAN Foundation lauded Huawei for its contribution in driving the digital transformation across the region. “Huawei’s innovative technologies and solutions have paved the way for increased connectivity and digitalization, to help ASEAN countries as the new epicenter for the world’s digital growth.”

In his keynote speech, Gen. (Ret.) Moeldoko, Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office (KSP) underlined that human development has become President Joko Widodo’s priority. Indonesia needs to groom 9 million talented digital youths by 2030. “I warmly welcome Huawei’s initiative to hold the Huawei Asia Pacific ICT competition in Indonesia so that it can further shape the digital ecosystem and motivate digital talent in Indonesia.”

Prof. Ir. Nizam, M.Sc., DIC., Ph.D., IPM., Asean Eng., Director General of Higher Education, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology, the Republic of Indonesia, said, “Huawei ICT Competition can be one of the yardsticks that helps measure our digital talent’s level of global competitiveness. The transformation of technology implies an enhancement of Indonesia’s human capacity to utilize advancements in science and technology. This goes beyond being mere users and entails becoming part of the creation of technology.”

Iona Dominique, a representative from the champion team of last year’s regional Seeds for the Future Program, also shared her takes on digital talent with the officials present.