Regional ICT Talent Shines at Huawei ICT Competition ME&CA 2024-2025 in Riyadh

The Huawei ICT Competition ME&CA 2024-2025 culminated with a prestigious Regional Finals Awards Ceremony in Riyadh, celebrating a decade of the Huawei ICT Academy in the Middle East and Central Asia. The event highlighted exceptional talent across Cloud, Network, Computing tracks, and an innovation competition, bringing together distinguished leaders and participants from across the region.

Winners and Achievements

Students from Jordan and Lebanon secured grand prizes, while teams from Kazakhstan and Iraq claimed first prizes. Qatar's team won the Innovation Competition Grand Prize for their project "Be My Sense." Other winning projects included:

• Saudi Arabia’s "NABEEH" (Most Popular Team Award)
• Uzbekistan’s "Volta"
• Pakistan’s "PRISM"
• Jordan’s "3asheqHuawei"
• Iraq’s "EcoGuardians"

Notable individual accolades included Muhammad Zubair from the Al-Khawarizmi Institute of Computer Science, awarded the inaugural Grand Prize for Instructors.

Key Highlights and Initiatives

• T.H.E. GOLD Talent Program Launch: Huawei announced the 2025 launch of this initiative to meet the demands of the AI era. It aims to offer advanced courses in AI, 5G-A, and smart classroom technologies, preparing students for complex industrial challenges.
• UNESCO Collaboration: Zhan Tao, Director of UNESCO IITE, commended Huawei’s role in fostering regional ICT innovation and education.
• Strategic Partnerships: Institutions like King Saud University and Bahrain Polytechnic received accolades for their commitment to digital transformation.

Voices of Leadership

• Dr. Adel Al-Zunaidi, Deputy Governor of TVTC, emphasized the significance of equipping youth for Saudi Vision 2030.
• Sherzod Shermatov, Uzbekistan’s Minister of Digital Technologies, celebrated the program’s impact on uniting countries through ICT education.
• Steven Yi, President of Huawei ME&CA, reflected on the competition’s role in empowering digital talent as the lifeblood of transformation.

Impact and Legacy

The competition witnessed record-breaking participation, with over 31,000 student registrations from 640 universities across 19 countries. Huawei’s ICT talent programs have trained over 300,000 students, certified 35,000 professionals, and established 106 ICT academies across the region.

The event sets the stage for the global finals in Shenzhen, China, in May 2025, spotlighting the region's finest digital talent on the global stage.