UWI Crest Campus Image: Mona Curve image for menu aesthetics
 
Coloured Mural
Marketing and Communications Office
Search |

Huawei gifts 100 tablets to UWI, Mona students

(From left) Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal of The UWI Mona Campus, Professor Dale Webber and Mr. Andy Deng, Country manager of Huawei Technologies Jamaica Company Limited pictured at the handing over ceremony on Friday, November 6, 2020.

(From left) Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal of The UWI Mona Campus, Professor Dale Webber and Mr. Andy Deng, Country manager of Huawei Technologies Jamaica Company Limited pictured at the handing over ceremony on Friday, November 6, 2020.

Leading Telecommunications Company, Huawei, has again partnered with The University of the West Indies, Mona for its 4th annual staging of the “Seeds for the Future” Programme. As a symbol of their commitment to advancing access to technology for all students, the company also donated 100 tablets.

The donation was made to both The UWI and the University of Technology, each institution benefiting from 100 tablets.

Speaking at the handing over ceremony on Friday, November 6, 2020, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal of The UWI Mona Campus, Professor Dale Webber, said that Huawei has once again demonstrated excellent corporate citizenship.

Prof Webber further stated that “As a university, our Triple A Strategy of Access, Alignment and Agility guides our footsteps, by providing these tablet, we have provided Access to students who would have otherwise, not been able to engage.

“Through this partnership, we have realized alignment between Huawei and the UWI. Doing this at the time that we are doing this, with a product such as this, we are demonstrating extreme agility. The Huawei have helped us succeed in our strategic plan,” Prof Webber said.

Since 2017, the telecoms giant has been in partnership with The UWI Mona with a view to providing students the opportunity to learn about the business culture at the company’s headquarters in China. This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students will instead gain the same knowledge and experience virtually as the programme has been moved online.

Mr. Andy Deng, Country manager of Huawei Technologies Jamaica Company Limited, who addressed the Handing-Over Ceremony, stated that “Huawei believes that access to education is vital to creating opportunities that will enable development. During the pandemic, our government and its authorities, educational institutions and social organizations are working together to ensure the education of every student. Huawei has been working with partners such as local government authorities and institutions to further our efforts.”

With the donation of the tablets, Mr Deng said, students from rural areas can continue their studies online, with the support of Huawei Cloud technology. Huawei’s corporate social responsibility, he said, mainly focuses on education and knowledge transfer in the ICT sector.

Seeds for the Future programme aims to transfer ICT solutions and knowledge

According to Mr Deng, the Seeds for the Future programme aims to transfer ICT solutions and knowledge to our young students to prepare our local ICT talents to overcome the challenges of the fourth industrial revolution.

“In Latin America, Huawei has helped more than 600 students from 22 countries to obtain our leading ICT technology, training at the Huawei Headquarters. Huawei has successfully transferred ICT knowledge to more than 5200 students throughout our programme,” Mr Deng informed.

“These young talents will unleash their potential and contribute to ICT and the digitization and development to the region. ICT Technology such as 5G, Cloud, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence has been widely applied in tele-medicine, digital education, virtual industries, and national digital economic development.”

In his closing comments, Mr Deng said Huawei hopes that the cooperation between Huawei and the University of the West Indies, Mona, will significantly contribute to ICT development in Jamaica.

1500 UWI Mona courses only available online

Principal Webber pointed out the fact that in Semester 2 this year 1500 of UWI Mona courses are only available online, which means students must have connectivity and a device to make this happen. Covid, he said, “has exacerbated challenges faced by our students and Huawei has given us one of the many solutions, the Seeds for the Future allows us to align, be agile and be associated with entities that can help us with our growth.”

In his closing remarks, Principal Webber told students who are participating, that they have been given an opportunity which will allow them to grow in confidence, and they will gain experience. He also reminded them that they are representing both the UWI and Huawei, because they are a product of both entities.

Seeds For the Future five-day programme

The five-day programme which focuses on information communication technology and preparation for the local ICT sector, will take place over a one-week period online, this format allows for more students to participate. Among the courses on offer over the five-day period, students will get access to advanced course on IoT, smart home technology, cyber security, digital trade, the digital economy, and digital transformation.

The programme’s online opening ceremony will take place on November 16, 2020 and will conclude on November 20, 2020.

 


© The University of the West Indies. All rights reserved. Disclaimer | Privacy Statement
Telephone: (876) Fax: (876)
Site best viewed at 800 x 600 resolution or higher.