An online seminar was held with the participation of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and leading Universities representatives to address Qatar’s ICT talent gap, and how ICT education can empower women in the country
The national winners in Qatar from the 2020 Huawei Middle East ICT Competition, held in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education in Qatar, were awarded recently. The annual competition welcomes thousands of college and university students from Qatar and the wider Middle East, enhancing students’ future employment through knowledge sharing on the latest ICT developments.
Due to social distancing rules, this year’s Huawei Middle East ICT Competition saw students participate virtually in the annual competition. All registered students took part in a Preliminary Competition and Training Enablement, followed by a National Exam that was held online in the country. The winners of this year’s competition were Maria Rauf Mahsood and Khamarunnisa Pazhayakath from Qatar University, and Zainab Ameema from Texas A&M University - Qatar. They received honors such as a Huawei certification and other awards. This year’s winning teams were chosen from a field of 15 finalists in Qatar, who competed following the preliminary round involving more than 155 competition entries from eight universities.
Congratulating the winners, Frank Fan, CEO Huawei Technologies LLC Qatar said: “Our congratulations go out to the winning national teams as well as everyone who participated in this year’s competition. Such robust participation has demonstrated the immense capacity for Qatar’s youth to combine innovation and creativity in using digital solutions. Building local ICT talent is an investment in the future of the country itself, and will ultimately equip Qatar to better pursue digital transformation, their national development plans, and ambitious visions.”
Dr. Khalid Al-Ali, the Acting Assistant Undersecretary for Higher Education Affairs at Ministry of Education and higher Education, said: “The Huawei Middle East ICT Competition is an exceptional platform to foster an interest in this essential sector. We are proud to have supported this initiative once again, as we believe in the value of nurturing young talent who will represent a connected future for our country thus contributing to our national vision for digital transformation and socio-economic development.”
Yang Song, Economic and Commercial Counsellor at Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the State of Qatar said: “I am delighted to see that Huawei is committed to building a healthy and dynamic ICT talent ecosystem in Qatar that aims to bridge the digital gap, develop young local ICT talent and ultimately enable more people to benefit from the digital transformation. Over the past few years, Huawei in Qatar has been actively fulfilling its corporate social responsibility through talent enabling and attracting more than 500 gifted university and college students in Qatar to participate in the programs.”
During the event, a seminar was held to discuss the challenges and solutions in bridging Qatar’s ICT talent gap, and how the country can leverage ICT education to empower women. Participants in the seminar included Dr. Khaled Al Abdel Qader, Vice President at Community College of Qatar (CCQ), who praised Qatar’s efforts in developing educational programs and training workshops, and establishing alliances with major companies. He also touched on CCQ’s contribution to enhance national capabilities by empowering women in the fields of technology and providing qualified IT cadres who are able to support the digital transformation programs in the country.
Also, Dr. Mounir Hamdi, Dean of the College of Science and Engineering at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Dr. Abdulla Khaled Al Ali, Head of Computer Science and Engineering Department at Qatar University (QU), and Dr. Salah Al Sharhan Dean School of Business and Information Technology at College of North Atlantic Qatar (CNAQ) participated in the seminar and highlighted the important role of collaboration between government bodies, academia entities, and private companies to support the education initiatives such as Huawei’s ICT competition, a great opportunity for the students to expose themselves to the latest ICT technologies that can build their innovative and leadership skills in the ICT sector.
Huawei is committed to growing the global ICT talent ecosystem by investing in youth and providing development and training opportunities that will enable them to become leaders in the ICT field. By openly collaborating with public and academia entities, such as ICT academies and AI & 5G labs in Qatar University, Community College of Qatar, and Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Huawei Qatar seeks to enhance knowledge transfer, promote a greater understanding of and interest in the technology sector, and encourage local participation in the growth of the digital community and economy of the country.