MCIT, Huawei Launch 3rd Edition of ICT Competition in Saudi Arabia to Foster Local Talents

Registration in Saudi Arabia opens for Huawei ICT Competition, aims to nurture local ICT talents and prepare the next generation of leaders for an intelligent world
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 12 September 2019: In collaboration with Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) of Saudi Arabia, Huawei -a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices -has launched the third edition of its annual Huawei Middle East ICT Competition in Saudi Arabia. University students are invited to register before October 10th, 2019.  
The competition, which aligns with the ambitions of Vision 2030 and National ICT Strategy 2023, was launched at a ceremony attended by HE Dr. Ahmed Altheneyyan, Deputy Minister for Technology and Digital Capacities Development at MCIT; HE Chen Weiqing, Chinese Ambassador to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Mark Xueman, Vice President of Huawei Technologies Co., and Dennis Zhang CEO of Huawei Tech. Investment Saudi Arabia Co. Ltd., in addition to representatives from Ministries, Universities, and Huawei.

Combining Huawei’s goal of nurturing local ICT talent with its vision to bring digital to every person, home and organization for fully connected, intelligent world and building the local digital ICT ecosystem, the competition will run in Saudi Arabia and nine other countries across the Middle East.

In the 2018 edition of the competition, the team from Saudi Arabia won third place in the final round of the competition, which took place at Huawei’s headquarters in Shenzhen, China.

Dr. Ahmed Altheneyyan, Deputy Minister for Technology and Digital Capacities Development at MCIT, said: “ This initiative comes within the Ministry's strategic plans to qualify human capital in digital transformation as the main pillar and effective tool of development, through an integrated program to develop national cadres, disseminate digital knowledge and create a competitive environment that attracts and stimulates innovation and digital entrepreneurship, which will contribute to the growth of the ICT Sector.”
“Huawei’s ICT Competition provides a platform that encourages and educates youth in the field of ICT, preparing them to further develop the sector in the Kingdom, thereby increasing its value and potential for the future of Saudi Arabia,” he added.

Mark Xueman, Vice President of Huawei Technologies Co., said: “Working with MCIT for the third edition of the Huawei ICT Competition in Saudi Arabia is an honor. We are proud to once more invite students to participate in this exciting competition, which offers valuable real-life experience opportunities, as well as the chance to win the prize of a lifetime working with Huawei’s experts in our China headquarters.”  

The competition promotes innovation and creativity. Contestants are tested on their knowledge of cloud computing, switching, routing, and network security. In addition, the competition gets participants up-to-date with the latest technologies such as IoT, AI, Big Data and most importantly 5G, the future technology which Huawei is leading globally.

The competition comprises three stages: preliminary, national final and international final. The top teams will advance to the national final stage, which will take place in November 2019. The national winners of the competition will not only receive certificates, trophies, and prizes, but will also have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel to China and gain insider access to a top global ICT company.