Huawei marks 10 years of Seeds for the Future

Huawei, digital infrastructure provider, has offered scholarships to some 2,000 students in total across Latin America and the Caribbean over the past 10 years for them to participate in the immersive education programme and have exposure to the latest digital technology trends.

The Seeds for the Future programme was introduced in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2014, starting with Colombia and then expanded to cover some 20 countries in the region.

“Just like when do other things, we decided to do a real talent programme and keep it up for the long term. We are happy that we have come to the 19 year milestone in this region,” said Cesar Funes, vice president of public affairs, Huawei Latin America and the Caribbean.

“When we look back, we can say that we have kept it up, even during the pandemic years. We have also constantly updated the programme and now it is mostly Seeds for the Future 2.0 in many of the regional countries where we have launched this programme,” he added.

Winning students in the Seeds programme get a scholarship used to fund a trip to China, where they spend two weeks on an immersive education programme at Huawei, receiving guidance from engineers working at the company and gaining exposure to the latest digital technology trends and, in addition, making visits to cities and companies.

The Seeds alumni in recent years have also been challenged to produce innovative projects aimed at solving real problems with digital technologies.

“I think such initiatives are extremely valuable in not only giving the young people the exposure, but also showing us what we can do when we keep up the efforts for a long time,” said Leticia de Oliveira Silva, a delivery project management specialist at Huawei Brazil, who was a participant in the Seeds programme.

She joined the company about five years ago and now sometimes participates in women in tech initiatives, too. She was the only one in her family who landed a job at a top company.

“No woman close to me worked in technology. That reality was very distant,” said the 26-year-old young project manager.

In a regional event organised last Thursday Huawei hosted a panel discussion on the status of the regional digital talent pool and the impact of artificial intelligence.

DIGITAL TALENT REPORT

Huawei released a commissioned regional digital talent report at the event, which says that there is an estimated need for 2.5 million more digital talent in the coming five years in the region, based on a study by international consultancy IDC.

The report also highlighted the gaps in the digital skills among the digital talent pool, reflecting a mismatch between the skills needed and what is available in the job market.

It highlighted the three golden rules in terms of training, namely, permanent training, career development and utilizing latest technologies from business partners.

“It’s where we as a global digital infrastructure company can contribute, together with partners and policymakers,” said Shau Wa Yu Tan, a public relations manager at Huawei who has been involved in delivering the talent initiatives in the region over the past few years.

Huawei also runs the ICT Academy, with over 400 partner universities receiving help in training and certifying students for digital technologies and skills; and the Global ICT Competition, with teams of students often making it to the global finals in recent years.

She also works on initiatives aimed at bridging the gender and geographical gaps.

Being aware of the similar challenges faced by other young women talents who strives for a tech career, Huawei’s Women In Tech promotes more women inclusion in the ICT field, which currently only have a low rate of 16-30 per cent of women participation among 45 per cent of the companies, spotted by IDC findings.

Experts also touched on the impact of the arrival of the artificial intelligence like ChatGPT or Pangu, a large language model developed by Huawei, saying that leaders in education would have to think about how to update their programs to truly develop the talent pool that the industries and academia needed in the future.

“It’s definitely not just the ability to master such models as tools but also how to think beyond the artificial intelligence to continue leading by innovating,” said Cesar Funes.

The education leaders have started thinking about what the universities can and should offer in the future. Carlos Nazareth Marins, director of Inatel, Brazil said “Many professors still think that AI is a problem for education. But for me, it’s a good solution for education. You can use AI to learn fast. It’s also a challenge how to keep teachers learning new things.”