Huawei will soon open the call for the sixth annual staging of its Seeds for the Future programme, the company’s flagship global corporate social responsibility initiative.
STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) students from UWI and the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) will be invited to apply for the programme which will be online for the second time owing to covid19.
Non-STEM students with a keen interest in technology can also apply and special emphasis will be placed on ensuring there is an uptake in the female participation rate.
Since 2016, Huawei, UWI and UTT have worked jointly to build a stronger ICT ecosystem by promoting ICT skills training and capacity building through the programme in TT, helping ICT students fill the gaps between theory learned in the classroom and practice in the industry, and so master the required skills needed for the new digital economy.
The programme seeks to develop local ICT talent, enhance knowledge-sharing, and improve young people's understanding of and interest in the ICT sector.
Over the last five years, 50 students have participated in the Seeds for the Future programme and of those, 30 have travelled to China for two weeks of hands-on instruction on Chinese culture and the latest technological innovations at the Huawei international headquarters.
In 2020, 20 outstanding students took part in the first edition of the virtual programme, giving more students the chance to participate and interact with experts from across the globe on subjects such as the latest in 5G, cloud and AI technology, leadership and business, just to name a few.
Additionally, Huawei has so far provided direct employment to three of its outstanding Seeds for the Future graduates, with a pledge to increase future training opportunities at the company through internships.
This year, 20 more local students will join with others from over 500 universities around the world to participate in an immersive and interactive eight-day online programme, with both livestream and pre-recorded courses available on Huawei’s free online learning platform iLearningX.
The session will give students exposure to cutting-edge technology, exclusive thought-provoking sessions with global visionary industry leaders, history of Huawei and its technological developments, and exploration of Asian culture.
[caption id="attachment_908179" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Students from TT and Colombia do a virtual meet and dreet during the 2020 Seeds for the Future programme. Photo courtesy Huawei -[/caption]
Participants will also receive an official programme graduation certificate, with the top student receiving a special award.
Additionally, this year students will participate in the newly launched Tech4Good project. This project will challenge participants to examine how to leverage technology to address the country’s most pressing social and environmental issues.
“Today, ICT infrastructure and networks are as vital to the prosperity and competitiveness of countries and ind
