AMMAN — Huawei has concluded its 2024-2025 Middle East and Central Asia (ME&CA) ICT Competition with a Regional Finals Awards Ceremony in Riyadh, coinciding with the 10th anniversary of Huawei ICT Academy in ME&CA.

 

The event recognised "exceptional" performance across cloud, network, computing tracks, and the innovation competition, celebrating the achievements of students and instructors from leading regional institutions.

 

This year, a team of students from Jordan won the grand prize for the network track, while two student teams from Lebanon secured the grand prize in the Cloud and Computing Tracks, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.  

 

In the Innovation Competition, a team from Qatar won the Grand Prize for their project "Be My Sense." The first prize category was shared among several teams: a Saudi team for their project "NABEEH," an Uzbekistan team for "Volta," and a Pakistani team for "PRISM."

 

Second prizes were awarded to a Kazakhstani team for "Plantos," a Jordanian team for "3asheq Huawei", an Iraqi team for "EcoGuardians," and another Saudi team for "CS2R". 

 

In addition to these accolades, the team behind "NABEEH" from Saudi Arabia received special recognition, winning the "Most Popular Team" award after securing the most votes from attendees.

 

Consultant at the Khawarizmi Institute of Computer Science Muhammad Zubair was awarded the inaugural Grand Prize for Instructors, a new category introduced this year at the Huawei ICT Competition finals.

 

President of Huawei ME&CA Steven Yi said: "ICT talents are the lifeblood of digital transformation. We gathered at this prestigious awarding ceremony to invest in our young people, who are an investment in our lives and future."

 

"We should target skilled digital talents who can solve complex industrial problems using intelligent technologies. Through initiatives like the ICT Competition, we continue to support the development of digital talent who will drive innovation in their respective nations," he added.

 

Yi also revealed that Huawei will officially launch "T.H.E. Gold Talent " programme in 2025, adding that this programme is an evolution of the current talent cultivation programme to meet the requirements of the AI Era. 

 

It aims to focus on introducing more advanced courses on AI to solve complex industrial scenarios related to the ME&CA, he said.

 

It also focuses on utilising advanced technologies like 5G-A, cloud, and AI-based ICT education, smart classrooms in transforming higher education, and helping universities cultivate more competitive all-around digital intelligence talent. 

 

The programme also targets more proactive collaboration and offers parallel HR programmes to unleash the talent’s value through jobs and interns.

 

During the event, a series of awards were presented to partners, instructors and students. 

 

King Saud University, the University of Bahrain, Bahrain Polytechnic, and Khawarizmi Institute of Science and Technology received the "Best Partner Award" among others recognised and appreciated for their continuous efforts and innovations in driving digital transformation.

 

This year's Huawei ICT Competition saw the participation of 31,000 students from 640 universities and colleges across 19 countries in the region.

 

The competition featured 290 participants in the Innovation Track and 30,900 participants in Practice Competitions, competing across multiple tracks, including Cloud, Network, and Computing. Participants underwent comprehensive assessment through written exams and hands-on lab work, while the innovation track featured both online and onsite defence rounds.

 

It has also garnered support and endorsement from UNESCO, along with over 40 regional ministries, operators, and industry partners.