Trinidad and Tobago students selected for Huawei ICT training

TEN university students from TT are in Costa Rica, alongside 92 students from Central America and the Caribbean, where they will compete for US$100,000 as part of Huawei Technologies Global Seeds for the Future Programme.

A Huawei media release said the flagship programme selects the best students from recognised universities in the region.

The students will learn about new technological trends and participate in classes taught by the Central American Institute of Business Administration.

The contingent of TT students are currently enrolled at the University of the West Indies (UWI); the College of Science, Technology and the Applied Arts of TT (COSTAATT) and the University of TT (UTT).

"The students will have the opportunity to put their knowledge into practice to address social or environmental problems in their respective countries through the Tech4Good initiative," the release said.

The best projects will be selected for the global phase where the winning group will receive US$100,000 to carry out their project.

COSTAATT student Ravina Kanhai said she is excited to participate in the initiative.

"Huawei is a well-known, multi-national organisation that can provide me with the opportunity to expand my knowledge and skillset in a global way," she said. "The programme focuses on not just new technology, but also essential traits of personal and professional growth, including leadership development, emotional awareness and critical thinking for effective decision-making. I embrace each opportunity to learn something new, meet new friends and work on projects that teach me how to make a difference in my country.”

UTT student Tanveer Dhanpaul shared similar sentiments saying, “I applied to the programme to expand my knowledge on various technologies and I am hoping to try to implement this new knowledge into the classrooms in TT.”

The release also reported an increase in the initiative’s female participation in the region from 15 per cent in the first year of the programme to 44 per cent – 6 per cent shy of Huawei’s 50 per cent goal.

Huawei’s Central America and the Caribbean vice president Daniel Ding said the company believes it can contribute greatly to local communities by working hand in hand with its clients, partners and stakeholders, as there is a shared vision to promote the digital transformation of the region.

“To achieve this, the most important thing is to invest in talent. Training future generations with technical skills and business tools is the most important step we have identified to build a robust technological ecosystem," he said.

Since 2015, this is the ninth edition of the programme in Central America and the Caribbean, reaching more than 400 students from ten countries in the region.

Through this initiative, Huawei has trained 100 local students to date.

This year will see students participating from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Panama, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Jamaica, TT and Suriname.