UE, UV, CIT-U headline new Huawei Academy partners

UE is one of the schools that have become a partner of the Huawei ICT Academy.

HUAWEI Philippines continues to develop, build and strengthen the local ICT talent ecosystem as it welcomes 15 new partner universities and colleges to Huawei ICT Academy. 

In a virtual on-boarding ceremony, Huawei ICT Academy introduced its new partner schools from different parts of the Philippines. In Luzon, the Academy on-boarded the University of the East, STI College Alabang, Southville International School and Colleges, Colegio de Muntinlupa, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Muntinlupa, Southern Luzon Technological College Foundation, Angeles University Foundation and the University of the Assumption.

The Academy also reached the Visayas region with partnerships with the University of the Visayas, Marinduque State College from Luzon and Cebu Institute of Technology University. Further, Huawei brought its ICT Academy initiative to Mindanao through collaborations with Xavier-Ateneo de Cagayan University, Holy Cross of Davao College and Jose Maria College.

In his speech during the ceremony, Mr. Ken Bijianjun, Director for Channel Department of Huawei Philippines Enterprise Business Group, warmly welcomed Huawei's partner schools for the ICT Academy. He said that Huawei ICT Academy is a corporate social responsibility program that deals with opportunities and challenges in the ICT industry. It provides high-quality resources and certification courses in AI, big data, cloud computing, storage, 5G, security and so on for the benefit of both teachers and students. "Huawei cultivates talents for the ICT industry in the whole world. We also hope to build a strong and meaningful talent ecosystem in the Philippines for Filipinos," he added. 

Huawei ICT Academy was launched in the Philippines in 2018, with the University of Southeastern Philippines (USeP) as one of its pioneering partner universities. Dr. Randy S. Gamboa, Dean of USeP's College of Information and Computing, recalled 

USeP's journey with Huawei ICT Academy since joining in 2018. 

"From the designing of the memorandum of understanding to the hosting of the national ICT competition, Huawei and our university have been working together to advance the use of information and computing technologies in education. Sharing this information, generating opportunities and improving the ICT talent ecosystem are our important goals," Dr. Gamboa said. He noted that seven USeP faculty members obtained Huawei Certified Network Associate certification, and three of them are now Huawei Certified Academy Instructor.

Huawei helping BDO's online banking platform

Huawei has been a vital part of BDO's online banking platforms.

THE average person in the Philippines spends more time on the Internet than any other country in the world. Filipinos are online over 11 hours each day, compared to a global average of just six hours.

Indeed, with a total population of more than 100 million, 71 percent of Filipinos are active Internet users, creating the perfect environment to develop the country’s digital economy through Financial Technology (FinTech).

Despite being the most active online, more than 50 million Filipinos—over half the population—do not use any form of online banking.

According to an official government report published in 2019, only 8 percent of Filipino adults have an active online account.

This, combined with the 97 percent of Filipinos who still trade in cash, has created increased risks during the global pandemic when in-person interactions are limited.

In recent years, Huawei has been collaborating closely with the largest bank in the Philippines, Banco De Oro Unibank (BDO), to realize the bank's strategic ambition: to continue improving business efficiency and customer services through digital transformation, in order to bring inclusive finance to more Filipinos.

In April 2021, BDO rolled out BDO Pay, a mobile wallet and contactless payment solution that provides users with convenient and instant access to digital banking services.

On the path toward inclusive digital banking, BDO is actively embracing technological innovation to upgrade its legacy infrastructure, improve its competitive edge, and develop more innovative services across the entire business.

BDO's digital banking expansion is powered by Huawei's OceanStor Dorado All-Flash Storage Solution, which implements a reliable, secure, and future-proofed data-sharing platform that is virtual and in the cloud.

The Huawei Data Management Engine (DME) and OceanStor Dorado Storage make up the foundation of the solution, intelligently safeguarding the data of the bank’s growing customer assets and transaction history.

Overcoming the limitations of a legacy system

BDO’s refresh of its IT infrastructure was largely driven by the increasing capacity requirements that arose as the business grew.

The legacy system was limited in its capacity to fully process and make use of the data resources that could create new value; therefore an upgrade was required.

In addition, the bank was experiencing the effects of siloed IT suites, resulting in storage utilization of less than 40 percent and much lower throughout.

To remove this obstacle, Huawei OceanStor Dorado provides a high Solid-State Drive (SSD) configuration ratio with SmartTier, enabling a 1.3 GB/s bandwidth and significantly improving the performance of the data-sharing platform.

Moreover, OceanStor Dorado features HyperReplication and a Storage Area Network (SAN) + Network-Attached Storage (NAS) unified storage system to meet BDO’s file-sharing and backup requirements.

This helps achieve an active-passive system to protect all business data, from images and voice notes to scanned documents and more.

Huawei OceanStor Dorado also supports flexible service expansion, slashes service rollout times, and accelerates data monetization in storage resource pools. In fact, during a Proof of Concept (PoC) performance test for BDO, the entire backup service time was slashed from two days to just six hours.

In addition to performance requirements, Operations and Maintenance (O&M) was also in need of an upgrade, as the legacy infrastructure lacked an automation orchestration platform.

Over-reliance on manual O&M also made system fault diagnosis complex—not to mention inaccurate—resulting in the maintenance department being flooded with complaints.

Digitizing O&M improved diagnosis, accuracy, and problem-solving efficiency, as well as bringing down related management costs.

Now, using Huawei’s DME, BDO’s storage utilization has been boosted from 40 percent to 70 percent, and the intelligent fault diagnosis capability of the system has seen efficiency soar to 90%.

The DME also manages data resource pools, which are created and configured based on service levels to manage hot, warm, and cold data by layer, using algorithms to automatically convert hot data into warm or even cold data.

Such nonessential data is then stored on lower-cost media to reduce resource waste and improve service efficiency.

Put simply, Huawei DME effectively ensures the full lifecycle management of the storage system, with backup and recovery solutions available to unleash the full value of data.

“During the proof of concept test, I was impressed with the high performance and reliability of Huawei's product. We trust Huawei for its service-centric value, fast response to our demands, and its commitment to continuing to innovate future technologies for the Financial Services Industry. This is why we hope to build long-term cooperation with Huawei,” said Dennis Tangonan, the infrastructure operation head of BDO.

BDO's recent IT infrastructure upgrade and refresh of the Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) is another step in the bank’s digital transformation journey.

Meeting the constantly changing demands for capacity and services is at the heart of BDO’s business operations as industries enter the intelligent era.

BDO will continue to innovate its storage system in order to provide the best products and services for its customers.

Alongside BDO, Huawei will continue to support the bank on its digital transformation journey by providing leading-edge services and technology so BDO can maintain its position as the largest bank in the Philippines.

Davao school partners with Huawei to kick off 5th industrial revo

The Jose Maria College in Davao City will begin the fifth industrial revolution for the Philippines.

DAVAO CITY–To keep up with the latest innovations that technology can offer to today’s education, Jose Maria College (JMC) sealed a partnership with telecommunications giant Huawei last July 6 in an agreement to pursue the fifth industrial revolution of educational technology.

Through this partnership, students will soon be able to access the most modern educational tools such as state-of-the-art Learning Management Systems (LMS), Virtual Laboratories, Virtual Reality, Smart Campus, etc.

According to Ken Sentorias, the JMC Information and Communications Technology Office (ICTO) director, the opportunities are limitless because both JMC and Huawei are on the same page of commitment and that is to deliver the latest educational technology.

It can be noted that the Philippines is among the countries that is still in the third industrial revolution of educational technology. Students from developed countries such as Japan, China, and the United States are currently the only ones experiencing the fifth industrial revolution.

However, JMC believes that this partnership will bring the institution a step closer to realizing its goal of delivery quality education through the use of technology. “We are planning the best for the students. And next year, we are going to announce something really great,” Sentorias quoted.

STI named 'Partner of the Year' by Huawei

STI College at present has the highest number of students passing the Huawei certifications.

TRUE to its word of creating "New Value Together, Win Together," Huawei Philippines has recently recognized the significant contributions and exemplary performance of its industry and academic partners, conferring the ICT Talent Partner of the Year 2020 award to STI College, which has the highest number of students passing the Huawei certifications offered by Huawei ICT Academy.

Cultivating Filipino ICT talents at the early stage

As a tech-driven educational institution with a large network of schools in the Philippines, STI College understands the difficulties faced by students who are pursuing ICT-related courses.

Despite the increased adoption and use of digital technologies in the country, digitalization efforts in the education sector remain impacted by the broadband penetration and access to advanced technologies.

Students often fall short of meeting the industry's talent requirements, struggling to acquire up-to-date knowledge and credentials, such as virtual training and certification.

STI College took on the challenge by nurturing students to become job-ready, future-ready, and life-ready.

To achieve this, STI introduced its Enrollment to Employment System, wherein students get applicable education, job market skills, job preparedness, and job placement assistance. 

The first step is the Learning Systems Development, which ensures that the curriculum content is up-to-date and job market-oriented.

To complement this, STI implements the Academic Delivery System to guarantee that highly-qualified and certified faculty members, and state-of-the-art facilities of campuses are at par with the standardized courseware and curriculum.

STI integrates in-demand ICT technologies into its courseware materials to prepare students for their dream careers. 

The third step, Student Certification, assures that students are prepared for employment through rigid assessment, evaluation, and certificate programs.

Before the students leave the security of their four-walled classrooms, they are given the opportunity to undergo on-the-job training with  STI's reputable partner companies.

Connecting students with future employers

With its partnership with Huawei ICT Academy, STI College delivers Huawei ICT technologies training, encourages students to get Huawei certifications, and develops talents with practical skills for the ICT industry and the community.

Huawei helps STI College integrate in-demand ICT technologies into its programs to better prepare the students for future certifications.

The Academy offers more than 100 certification exams and 22 technical fields to pave clear the career development paths for STI students.

STI College has so far produced 299 students certified in five technology domains: cloud computing, Big Data, artificial intelligence, routing and switching, and storage.

Huawei ensures that its courses match the needs of the ICT industry in general and its partner enterprises in particular to guarantee employment for students.

An industry certification validates the skills and readiness of the students to join the ICT workforce.

Every certification is valid for three years, and the students' names appear on Huawei's online database as Huawei Certified ICT Associates (HCIA).

This improves students' competitiveness in the job market as well as schools' employment rate.

Regine Gila Cabeltes, a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering graduate of STI College, realized the benefits of being Huawei-certified soon after she finished her course.

"Being a Huawei Certified ICT Associate made it easier for me to land the job I aspired. The technologies covered in the HCIA courses are prevalent in the company where I work. When I was answering the technical questions during my job interview, it was like answering a certification exam," Cabeltes shared.

Prof. Beronika Peña, STI College's ICT and Engineering Courseware Development Head, is one of the teachers at Huawei ICT Academy. Peña received an Excellent Instructor with a Level A Award from the Academy in 2020.

"We are grateful to be an ICT Academy. Huawei has provided us the means to promote ICT talent development to our teachers and students. Through this partnership, we look forward to producing more competent and industry-ready graduates," she said.

Contributing to the development of the ICT industry

Establishing one's career in today's competitive industries has become a challenging pursuit to most job seekers.

Employers, too, are increasingly having difficulty finding the right person for the job. Too often, there remains a huge gap between the skills required by the industry and what a graduate has to offer.

Given the current state of ICT talent development in the Philippines, Huawei ICT Academy and STI College have committed to equipping Filipino students with the needed knowledge and skills to prepare them for their future career in the ICT industry.

In the long term, the partnership aims to bridge the gap in talent supply and demand toward the sustainable development of the Philippine ICT industry said Mr. Todd Liu, President of Enterprise Business Group, Huawei Philippines.

Huawei relaunches CSR project with US$150M investment

Huawei's Chairman Liang Hua speaks at the Tech & Sustainability: Everyone's Included forum.

HUAWEI on Thursday announced its Seeds for the Future Program 2.0, through which Huawei plans to invest US$150 million in digital talent development over the next five years. This program is expected to benefit more than 3 million additional people.

Huawei held a "Tech & Sustainability: Everyone's Included" forum, co-hosted by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Representatives from Huawei, IUCN, the World Economic Forum, Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative (GeSI), and Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA) participated to discuss the role of technology in driving sustainability and building a more inclusive, eco-friendly world.

Promoting equal access to education and talent development

According to a 2020 report by UNICEF and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), about 2.2 billion people aged 25 years or younger still lack internet connections at home.

"Digital skills and literacy are not just the foundation for the digital economy; they are also a basic human right defined by the United Nations," said Huawei's Chairman Liang Hua at the forum. "Today we are announcing Huawei's Seeds for the Future Program 2.0. As part of our commitment to continuously developing talent, we will invest US$150 million in this program over the next five years and help college students and young people improve their digital skills. This program is expected to benefit more than 3 million additional people."

Huawei is committed to helping develop digital talent in the countries where it operates. In 2008, Huawei began to roll out talent development programs, through scholarships, technology competitions, and digital skills training, and has invested more than US$150 million in these programs. Huawei has since benefited more than 1.54 million people from over 150 countries.

The Seeds for the Future program is designed to inspire local talents and encourage seeds for the society to tackle digital challenges. The program has benefited more than 100 students in the Philippines. 

As an echo for the forum, Huawei Asia Pacific held the APAC Media Virtual Roundtable with laser focus on addressing digital inclusion and sustainable development of this region. Jay Chen, Vice President of Huawei Asia Pacific, announced Huawei’s plan to cultivate more than 40,000 ICT talent in the next five years through multiple programs including Seeds for the Future in the region.

“In the digital economy, digital talent is playing an increasingly important role in driving digital transformation and economic growth. The access to education is vital for creating opportunities that support sustainable and fair development. Due to the pandemic, we are moving the program online and opening it up to more outstanding students than ever before,” said Jay Chen.

In Asia Pacific, Huawei has been a firm enabler for building an inclusive talent ecosystem.Amid the pandemic, collaborations with top universities are accelerating. Till now, Huawei has built collaborations with around 200 universities in countries across Asia Pacific and over 40 universities in the Philippines.

Addressing environmental challenges and enabling green development

Climate change and environmental issues are becoming global challenges. Though carbon emissions declined over the past year due to the economic slowdown and worldwide lockdowns, emissions are rapidly rebounding as economies reopen. Shifting to a circular economy and achieving sustainable development is now a common goal for all countries.

"Green and sustainable development has become a top priority for global economies," said Liang. "Huawei has been leveraging its extensive experience in power electronics and energy storage as well as technical expertise in 5G, cloud, and AI, to develop its digital power business and provide digital power solutions for different industries. As of December 2020, Huawei's digital power products and solutions have generated 325 billion kWh of electricity from renewable sources, and saved a total of 10 billion kWh of electricity. These efforts have resulted in a reduction of 160 million tons in CO2 emissions."

In Singapore, for example, Huawei FusionSolar Solution has supported Sunseap Group, a solar energy solutions provider, to build the world's largest offshore floating Photovoltaic (PV) farms. With 13,312 solar panels, 40 inverters, and more than 30,000 floats, this five-hectare sea-based solar plant is estimated to produce up to 6,022,500 kWh of energy per year, supplying enough power for 1250 four-room public housing flats on the island and offsetting an estimated 4258 tons of carbon dioxide, according to Bruce Li, Managing Director of the Huawei Asia-Pacific Enterprise Digital Power Business.

 “By working together, countries can mutually support one another to meet their sustainability commitments. There are many areas where digital technology can support this, such as in enabling a transparent and verifiable carbon market. Singapore’s public and private sectors have expressed interest in working with its neighbors on climate action,” said Associate Professor Simon Tay, Chairman of SIIA at the forum.