Jordanians win first place in Huawei’s regional ICT competition

AMMAN — Jordanian team has won the sixth edition of the Huawei ICT Competition Middle East 2022, which concluded on Thursday in Muscat, Oman.

The team, comprising students Hamzah Al Zubaidi and Aws Al Rayya from Princess Sumaya University for Technology and Yazan Al Shannik from Yarmouk University, won the first-place prize of $20,000, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The top winners will represent the Middle East and Central Asia in the global finals competition that will take place next year in Shanghai, China, said a statement by Huawei.

During the ceremony, Ali Bin Amer Al Shaidani, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology for Communications and Information Technology, said: “We are thrilled to host the Huawei ICT Competition Middle East 2022 in Oman this year, in partnership with the Ministry of Labour, Omantel and Huawei. This comes as part of the National Digital Upskilling Initiative [Makeen] and coincides with the selection of Muscat as the Arab Digital Capital for the year 2022. With strong digital capabilities and infrastructure, Oman is a technology hub that aims to pave the way for young talents in the region. Congratulations to all participants; we look forward to witnessing their journey to transform the technology scene.”

Shunli Wang, Vice President of Huawei Middle East and Central Asia,  underlined Huawei’s commitment to supporting and nurturing young ICT talent in the region. “Through the Huawei Middle East ICT Competition, we aim to empower the youth to advance their ICT skills, contribute to the talent ecosystem, and support accelerating digital economies,” he added.

He continued: “We believe in the power of open collaboration with our partners in the public and private sectors, alongside academia to nurture the skills of the young ICT talents and encourage them to participate in achieving the national plans and visions of their countries. I would like here to extend our gratitude to our partners from regional governments, organisations and universities for their continuous support and contribution to the success of the competition since its inception.”

The Huawei ICT Competition is one of several CSR initiatives undertaken by Huawei to nurture youth. Over 80,000 students across the region have participated in the contest since its launch in 2017, Petra added.

During the 2021 edition of the competition, Huawei collaborated with over 20 ministries and 453 institutions and received applications from over 15,000 students, while the 2022 edition of the competition witnessed a remarkable increase in students’ participation to reach 19,300 applicants, Petra reported.