Huawei Technologies Phils., Inc. welcomed 11 new University partners for Huawei ICT Academy through a virtual onboarding ceremony. The universities are Bataan Peninsula State University, Bicol University, Cebu Technological University, Chiang Kai Shek College, Holy Angel University, Holy Angel University, Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation, Southern Leyte State University, STI College, Universidad de Zamboanga, University of Antique, and University of San Jose-Recoletos. This brings the total number of Huawei ICT Academy university partners to 21.
The new partners are leading universities in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The representatives gave a brief background of their respective universities and how they came to know about Huawei Technologies Phils., Inc. .
Dr. Francisco D. Napalit of Holy Angel University, the biggest university in Pampanga, shared that they just recently signed as a partner. He learned about Huawei’s program through the University President and stated, “I am very enthusiastic to join the team and the partnership.”
University of Antique representative Prof. Roy de Vera also expressed his gratitude, “Thank you for having University of Antique as a partner of Huawei ICT Academy.”
Also present in the virtual meeting is STI representative Prof. Beronika Pena. She shared her experience in opening the first class of Cloud Computing and achieving 100 percent passing rate, as well as encouraged new members to take advantage of what Huawei ICT Academy can offer. She shared, “Those who are new members please utilize the e-learning platform. Everything that you will be needing is already there and take advantage of the incentive that Huawei is offering to the teachers and students.”
Pioneer university partners Dr. Randy Gamboa of University South Eastern Philippines, Prof. Allen Lowaton of MSU-IIT, and Prof Dennis Robles Bulacan State University also joined the event and shared their own experiences with the program.
Mr. Kevin Wangyan, Huawei Channel Director, said, “Huawei has a comprehensive, worldwide recognized professional certification system. We hope with the introduction of ICT Academy platform, we can enhance the awareness, ICT knowledge, and skills for our future talents in the Philippines.”
To meet the new requirements and challenges, the Huawei ICT Academy Program will enter Phase 2.0 this 2020. According to the five-year plan, Huawei will develop globally 2 million ICT professionals and continuously update its school-enterprise cooperation solutions in cutting-edge technologies, such as 5G and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
To achieve this goal, Huawei will set up the Huawei ICT Academy Development Incentive Fund (ADIF), with a total global investment of at least US$50 million over the next five years. This fund aims to help ICT academies to operate stably by: training the teachers; providing free exam vouchers to encourage students to take Huawei’s certification exams; setting up an education fund to reward excellent teachers and students; holding the Huawei ICT Competition to provide a platform to showcase the talents of the students; and organizing ICT Talent Job Fairs to help students find jobs and promote efficient talent matching service.
According to Mr. Guo Zhi, Huawei Vice President, “Huawei is supporting the call of the Philippine government for the private sector to contribute to the improvement of ICT Education in the Philippines. Huawei ICT Academy 2.0 is set to develop ICT Professionals and popularize digital skills over the next five years by collaborating with the top Universities in the Philippines.”
The company also expressed gratitude to the school administrators and coordinators of the partner universities for the collaboration and partnership.
Huawei Philippines aims to further the cooperation with partner colleges and universities, enhance the ICT ecosystem, increase investments, and accelerate the development of the talent ecosystem to support the digital transformation of industries.