READING, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Huawei celebrated the 1st annual ICT Skill Competition in Western Europe 2017-2018 at a ceremony held at Henley Business School, University of Reading on 30th April. The competition is sponsored by Huawei and aims to promote vital ICT skills in the next generation of technology professionals.
A wide range of key industry areas are covered by this competition and students gain expertise in big data, cloud computing technologies, IT storage systems, data centre management, computer networks, Huawei technologies, and much more. Use of Huawei technologies in the industry is rapidly increasing, and with big data and network hacking being such hot topics, this collaboration is ideally timed to support the industry in furthering practitioner knowledge and dealing with these complex matters.
Over 1,200 students from more than 75 institutions across Western Europe took part in the regional heat of this year’s competition. Students were tested in subject areas including WLAN Security, Routing & Switching, Security and Cloud Computing. The award ceremony was opened with a welcome given by Mr Robert Yang, Vice President of Huawei Western Europe Enterprise Business Group, followed by a speech given by Professor John Board, Dean of Henley Business School, highlighting the importance of the collaboration between Henley and Huawei.
Professor Zhili Sun, Vice-Chair Academia of the Huawei ICT Academy Advisory Board, introduced the Huawei ICT Academy Programme, and Professor Yinshan Tang, Vice Dean (China) of Henley Business School, presented the success of Huawei ICT Academy at Henley, including its engagement with students.
The first prize in the Western Europe stage of the competition went to Mattia Silvestrini from Marche Polytechnic University, Italy. Six of the best performers in the regional heat now have the opportunity to compete at the competition’s global final which will take place in May 2018 at Huawei’s international headquarters in Shenzhen, China.
In addition to the student competition, the Outstanding University Award was presented to Henley Business School, UK and the University of Alicante in Spain, in recognition of their outstanding performance in ICT talent development. The Award was received by Professor Keiichi Nakata, Head of Business Informatic Systems & Accounting, at Henley Business School.
Mr. Robert Yang, Vice President of Huawei Western Europe Enterprise Business Group, said: “In entering the competition, students have learned essential skills required for today’s ICT industry and passed tough challenges that we set along the way.”
Professor Zhili Sun, Professor of Communication Networking at the University of Surrey, said: “I believe Huawei Academy Advisory Board, together with Huawei Technology, can benefit academia and our students.”
Professor Kecheng Liu, Henley Business School’s Director of Strategic Initiatives, Director of HAINA at Reading, sent his warm congratulations to all the winners, and said: “Henley Business School is honoured to work with Huawei in various fronts over the years, particularly in hosting this competition.”
Huawei ICT Academy organises the competition to develop the ICT professionals of the future, building a talent ecosystem with relevant skills and experience to power the entire industry and drive digital transformation. Huawei also works with governments, offers globally recognised certifications, graduate programs and joint R&D projects to help build a sustainable ICT ecosystem.
Huawei
Huawei opened its first office in the UK in 2001 and is mainland China’s largest investor into the UK. The company has 15 offices across the UK and 1,030 employees, planned to rise to 1,500 by 2017. Huawei will continue to expand its investment in the UK in the coming years, has made a £956 million contribution to UK GDP over the last three years (2012-2014) and supported 7,400 jobs direct and through its supply chain. In April 2013, Huawei opened a new UK headquarters in Green Park, Reading. Huawei UK recently created of a UK Board of Directors, with three leading members of the business community acting as non-executive directors, led by Lord Browne as Chairman.
Huawei ICT Academy
Huawei ICT Academy is a not-for-profit education program that facilitates university-enterprise partnerships. The project aims to lead ICT development, build the future of the ICT industry, and create a sound talent ecosystem by providing ICT education worldwide. To date, Huawei has fostered cooperation with more than 300 universities in Europe, North America, Southeast Asia, Australia, and other regions around the world. In the future, Huawei will hold higher education development summit forums and forge ICT talent alliances to further drive the healthy, sustainable, and efficient development of the ICT talent ecosystem.
