[October 20, 2020] Today, Huawei held eco-Connect Europe 2020 exclusively online, under the theme of "New Value Together." The conference focused on the mutually beneficial cooperation between Europe and Huawei. Now, Huawei takes a leading role in the virtual event revolution, focusing on and promoting co-operation between businesses and partners and bringing them new technology solutions in a remote setting.
Mr. Ken Hu, Deputy Chairman of Huawei's Board of Directors, made the opening keynote focused on the theme of ‘20 Years of Connecting Europe’, marking two decades of availability of Huawei technology in Europe. Ken pointed out, back in 2000, Huawei opened the first European R&D center in Stockholm. Over the past 20 years, Huawei has been serving customers in every European country, and working with over 3000 suppliers and 1000 partners in the region. In 2019 alone, Huawei contributed more than €16.4 billion euros to Europe's GDP.
The digital landscape is changing. Operational technology and industry know-how will become Europe's core competitive strengths. Huawei will continue deepening its roots in Europe, investing in Europe, and giving back to Europe. Through 5G Joint Innovation Centers and Experience Centers, Huawei is working with European carriers to incubate 5G-powered applications for all industries. With the OpenLabs in Munich and Paris, Huawei is bringing together local partners to jointly develop state-of-the-art digital industry solutions. In total, Huawei works with more than 1,000 enterprises across Europe. As active members of European and International standards groups, Huawei is contributing technology, expertise, and feedback to help develop shared global standards.
Huawei will increase investment in local R&D, in particular working with European partners to incubate innovation and help the customers to enhance their global competitiveness. Huawei will help build out the digital ecosystem and push the limits of digital innovation, and invest in ICT training to help European people and businesses build their digital skills.
Following Ken Hu’s opening speech, Mr. Luis Jorge Romero, Director-General of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), also made a Keynote speech, explaining the significance of global cooperation. All the players should move forward through cooperation and “Think Global, Act Local”.
Mr. Scott Marcus, Senior Fellow at Bruegel, a Brussels-based macroeconomics think tank, also spoke at the event, He examined the post-pandemic challenges and opportunities with the enablement of ICT technology and innovation in Huawei eco-Connect Europe 2020. Under the COVID-19 pandemic, Telecommunications play more important role in life and work.
At the end of keynote session, Huawei appealed to industry-wide customers and partners: “We can do more together. Open innovation is key to Europe's Digital Decade, and Huawei is looking forward to working together with you to make the next decade a tremendous success.”
Huawei eco-Connect Europe 2020 is an annual flagship event hosted by Huawei for European ICT industry, and is held online from October 20th to 21st, 2020. This year's conference is themed on "New Value Together" and aims to establish an open, cooperative, and shared platform for customers and partners to explore new opportunities for an intelligent future.
