The Middle East is transforming into a leading digital economy. How is Huawei supporting the region in delivering a fully connected, intelligent world?
The Middle East is one of the fastest and most competitive regions in the world that is rapidly adopting cutting-edge technologies. Innovations in 5G, cloud, AI, and other fields are pushing the digital economy into a new development phase. For example, because of the fast roll-out of 5G, some countries in the region serve as a tangible proof point of how technology can help to advance the development of all industries, especially when integrated with technologies such as cloud and AI.
We see clear opportunities to support organisations in the Middle East with their digital transformation goals. This involves bringing technological advances to even more industries and creating new value by helping governments and enterprises go digital while operating more intelligently.
The fourth industrial revolution (4IR) has touched all corners of the globe. At Huawei, we continue to innovate in order to create value for our customers, our partners, and society. By doing that, we have achieved growth and many other shared successes.
What are some of Huawei’s key solutions that are being adopted in the region?
Huawei’s exploration into 5GtoB has been highly rewarding. Working with carriers and partners, the company had signed more than 5,000 commercial contracts for industrial 5G applications by June 2022. In some Middle East countries, such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Huawei’s 5GtoB offerings have seen large-scale commercial deployment across numerous industries, including ports, mining, manufacturing, and oil and gas. 5G Fixed Wireless Access has seen wide adoption in home applications, helping carriers achieve business success with 5G among home and enterprise users.
Huawei’s enterprise business continues to grow rapidly in the region. In 2021, Huawei launched 11 scenario-based solutions for key sectors such as government, transportation, finance, energy, and manufacturing. Over 700 cities and 267 Fortune Global 500 companies have chosen Huawei as their digital transformation partner, and Huawei now works with more than 6,000 service and operation partners worldwide.
Our cloud platform, continues to outperform competitors. Now the fastest-growing cloud services provider in the world, HUAWEI CLOUD has attracted 2.6 million developers, 28,000 consulting partners, 9,000 technical partners, and released 6,100 Marketplace products five years since launch. The new HUAWEI CLOUD Everything-as-a-Service strategy envisions a future where all infrastructure and applications will be cloud-based. Additionally, we encourage enterprises to embrace AI fully and let data play its part in supporting operational decision-making as part of Technology as a Service. Moving forward, Huawei Cloud will continue to invest and innovate according to its “Everything as a Service” strategy and build the best cloud platform for industry-specific innovation as the world heads towards a golden decade of SaaS. Huawei Cloud will also forge a new partner system to help partners improve their capabilities and achieve shared success. With Huawei Cloud serving as the foundation, Huawei will enable developers to grow and contribute to a thriving developer ecosystem through developer programmes like the Huawei Cloud Developer Programme.
Last June, we announced Huawei Apps UP Contest, which has set aside over US$1 million in prize money to encourage developers to build an app ecosystem that intelligently connects everything. The 2022 edition of the competition saw the launch of the Best Arabic App in the Middle East and Africa for developers to build app solutions customised to the region’s demographic, an initiative we will continue supporting in years to come.
Our Middle East cloud strategy is to bring services closer to our customers. We launched the Abu Dhabi cloud region in 2020, followed by an announcement this year of a Saudi Arabia region to be launched soon. Then in July of this year, Kuwait’s Communication and Information Technology Regulatory Authority (CITRA) granted permission to HUAWEI CLOUD to offer cloud services in Kuwait as the GCC country pursues a cloud-first policy.
Can you please elaborate on Huawei’s talent development strategy?
A digitally-driven region requires knowledgeable, talented individuals to move into the next era of connectivity. Huawei remains committed to contributing to the development of the region’s ICT ecosystem and nurturing local talent through cooperation with governments, universities, and industry organizations.
In fact, Huawei was among the first global tech companies to leverage its technology and expertise to help plug the talent gap, launching what is today its flagship CSR initiative, Seeds for the Future, in 2008. The programme supports the development of local ICT talent by enhancing international knowledge transfer amongst students, promoting a greater understanding of and interest in the technology field, and encouraging participation in the region’s growing digital economy.
Through some of our annual initiatives such as the Huawei ICT Academy, the Huawei Middle East ICT Competition, and many others, we are promoting collaborations between public and private sector entities, educators, and technology companies to develop talent.
Looking ahead, what is the business focused on in terms of growth?
At Huawei, we are committed to supporting our customers’ shift into a digital and intelligent world. The next decade will see the 5.5G vision become a reality, enabling a 10 Gbps experience and a hundred billion connections. This will require frequency innovation to accommodate the new Gigabit scenarios. GSMA recommends an average of 2GHz mid-band per country is necessary as spectrum reserve for mobile, supporting downlink capacity with higher spectrum efficiency and large antenna array technology.
We will continue to invest and innovate with Huawei Digital Power. Huawei’s focus on renewable energy is on converging and innovating technologies to accelerate the digitalisation of energy and enable various industries to upgrade. We aim to accelerate clean energy generation, build green transportation, sites, and data centres, and ultimately contribute to zero-carbon buildings, campuses, and cities.
Cybersecurity is another key priority for Huawei. We strongly believe cybersecurity is a shared responsibility and collaboration remains the best way to tackle cyber threats. Together, governments, standards organisations, and technology providers can develop a unified understanding of cyber security challenges. Huawei reiterates its commitment to communicating and collaborating with all stakeholders in an open, transparent, and responsible manner to jointly improve cybersecurity and privacy capabilities for customers.
