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The effects of the pandemic have highlighted a greater need to develop the digital economy in the post-pandemic era. To date, more than 170 countries have released digital strategies and more than 50 have unveiled AI strategies to promote sustainable economic growth and development through ICT in the post-COVID world.
However, the shortage of digital talent is a significant factor limiting the development of the digital economy and industrial innovation. The European Commission's 2022 Digital Economy and Society Index shows that more than 37% of the European workforce lacks basic digital skills, and only 54% of 16 to 74 year-olds in the EU have basic digital skills. Separate to digital and intelligent transformations, developing digital talent and improving digital literacy is an enormous challenge for all countries. The EU's 2030 Digital Compass plan aims to train 20 million ICT specialists and equip 80% of adults with basic digital skills by 2030.
Talent development initiatives need to consider industry technologies that are constantly evolving. Talent development programs offered by universities will not be enough to address the skills gap created by accelerated digital transformation across all industries. To this end, Huawei is leveraging its successful ICT practices to build talent alliances, standardize talent requirements, upskill professionals, and demonstrate the value of digital talent in Europe. Huawei is committed to nurturing and training more talented ICT specialists and a key player in the growth of digital talent across Europe.
As a global technology company, Huawei actively builds talent ecosystems and shares ICT knowledge and skills around the world. The Huawei ICT Academy is an important initiative to develop talent in partnership with universities, colleges and training providers.
Since 2011, Huawei has partnered with universities to share the latest developments in ICT with students around the world through training courses, online learning, and lab training, among others. The company takes the latest cutting-edge industry knowledge directly to academia, encouraging students to gain industry standard Huawei certifications, supporting in the development of new talent with innovative and practical skills for the global ICT industry. Since students rarely get to participate in real-world projects, the Huawei ICT Academy includes both theoretical lessons and practical training to bridge the gap between academia and the industry.
At present, the ICT Academy offers three types of courses general and professional courses with the latter consisting of theory and practical elements supporting both instructor-led and self-paced learning in a comprehensive range of technology areas and leading to an ICT industry recognized certification. By January 2023, Huawei released 18 updated courses in English with additional resources to support students. (For more information about Huawei ICT Academy courses view/download the course catalog at https://e.huawei.com/en/talent/ict-academy/#/ict-courses-list)
By December 2022, Huawei had established the ICT Academy Programme in more than 2200 academic institutions globally, this network of Huawei ICT Academies supports in training over 200,000 every year and has also trained more than 8,000 dedicated teachers to date. In Europe, Huawei has supported in the development of over 200 ICT academies in partnership with local universities, colleges and training providers with more than 10,000 student registrations. The Academy has been a crucial stepping stone in the careers of many specialists in Europe's ICT industry and is supporting in the development of a flourishing digital economy.
Huawei teamed up with Henley Business School (HBS), which is one of the oldest business schools in the UK and part of the University of Reading, to build the first Huawei ICT Academy in the country. HBS and Huawei continue to work together to equip students with the ICT skills they need to stand out in the labor market by offering faculty and students certification courses in the latest technologies and industry trends. Students can gain a solid and valuable understanding of the latest technologies through courses such as cloud, AI, networking plus many more and an opportunity to compete in the Huawei ICT Competition against top talent across the globe.
In Spain, the HCIA courses offered by the Huawei ICT Academy at the University of Alicante are considered compulsory courses that can be used to train outstanding teachers and new talent. In 2021 alone, the University of Alicante organized six master classes, three offline campus recruitment events, and a large job fair in collaboration with the local government and the chamber of commerce. During 2022, the number of active students online reached more than 1,000, and the number of students certified by Huawei grew from less than 10 to more than 160, ranking first in Western Europe. There are many similar success stories because Huawei customizes the terms of partnerships with European universities based on the development of the local digital economy and then introduces targeted ICT courses which benefit teachers, students, and the university.
No person or enterprise can be an island, isolated in the age of the Internet of Everything. Given the urgent demand for digital talent from various industries, Huawei is working with international educational organizations, governments, and partners to provide access to technologies, share experiences, and build a platform for the development of the ICT talent ecosystem.
Huawei partners are pictured with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) in the UK where“Tech for Good” was the theme of the event aimed at enhancing young people's programming skills and encouraging them to consider a career in technology.
Huawei has also collaborated with UNESCO. The International Institute of Online Education (IIOE) is a non-profit online education platform run by the International Centre for Higher Education Innovation under the auspices of UNESCO. Huawei not only provides cloud technologies to support platform operations, but also offers 14 advanced ICT certification courses for free to help teachers improve their technical skills. Huawei actively participated in the third UNESCO World Higher Education Conference. It not only launched the Seeds for the Future scholarship program, but also signed MOUs with 11 ICT academies and educational organizations across Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Africa to develop future digital talent.
Developing a talent ecosystem should be a top priority in Europe. Huawei has released a talent white paper, and organized the ICT Competition (For more information, click here: https://e.huawei.com/en/talent/#/ict/contest?compId=85131973) and Talent Ecosystem Forum to demonstrate the value of talent and empower and facilitate talent development.
In 2022, Huawei and Ernst & Young released Strategies to Address the Digital Skills Gap in the EU, which presented a detailed analysis of the digital skills gap in the EU, and offered possible solutions to close this gap, improve ICT education and learning opportunities, encourage and support women's participation in the ICT sector, and promote the development of a collaborative digital skills ecosystem, because every European can benefit from improving their digital skills. Huawei has also released talent white papers in Spain, South Africa, Kenya, Morocco, Tunisia, and the Middle East,
Huawei also organizes annual events such as the Huawei ICT Talent Job Fair, HCIE Night to connect talent with enterprises, promote the employment of students, and help students create value in the industry.
Huawei is working to create the European talent ecosystem. In the future, it will continue to collaborate with governments, industry organizations, and universities to build an open, reliable, mutually beneficial, and sustainable ICT talent ecosystem. This will help to continuously improve everyone’s digital skills, promote digital inclusion, make technological breakthroughs, and drive sustainable social and economic development.
(To find out more about Huawei's digital talent development initiatives, visit https://www.huawei.com/en/)
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy, position, products, and technologies of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. If you need to learn more about the products and technologies of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., please visit our website at e.huawei.com or contact us.
