ICT Minister Dr. Chris Baryomunsi Launches Talent Cultivation partnership between Government & Huawei

The Minister of ICT and National Guidance Hon. Chris Baryomunsi has today launched a talent cultivation partnership MOU between his Ministry and Huawei.

The minister launched the partnership at the Uganda Institute of Communication Technology (UICT) which is a direct beneficiary.

This MOU will provide adequate skills, training and certification courses such as 5G, A.I, Cloud, Security, Data communications and others that are required by employers to UICT students and ICT officers.

Huawei will provide; staff professional development, sharing of the latest educational materials and resources on latest technologies, exchange of publications and other materials of common interest and promote unified international standards that govern cybersecurity for emerging technologies.

Dr. Baryomunsi highly welcomed the collaboration and thanked Huawei for the program that’s geared towards skilling of both students and ICT officers.

“This is highly welcomed as it is geared towards skilling of both students and ICT Officers with aim of equipping them with the right skills, competencies to manage, support and ensure that ICT delivers business value. I am pleased that this initiative benefits our agencies through providing talent cultivation, systematic practical training system thus making them more competitive in the jobs market and the provision of employment opportunities”, said Hon Dr. Baryomunsi.

The Permanent Secretary of the ministry of ICT Dr. Aminah Zawedde, noted that this engagement with Huawei is aligned to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and others.

“This engagement is to provide quality education and skills aligned to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Africa’s Agenda 2063, Uganda Vision 2040, NDP III 2020/21 – 2024/25, National ICT Policy and achievement of NDP III Digital Transformation Programme and Development of an agile ICT-Human Resource Capital etc. Huawei will provide capacity support to the Department to implement the ICT talent development in terms of 5G, AI, Cyber Security, Cloud and Big Data and other ICT technologies,” she noted.

Uganda Communications Commission Executive Director Eng Irene Kaggwa Ssewankambo whose mandate spans over the Uganda institute of Communications Technology (the direct beneficiary) was present to witness the launch.

She said that Huawei’s ICT Academy initiative is fulfillment of the commission’s vision to drive the development of a robust communication sector in Uganda.

“The Huawei ICT Academy is also a fulfillment of the commission’s vision of “To Drive the Development of a Robust Communications Sector in Uganda”. A robust communication sector relies heavily on ICT talent pool. So there is great need for a country such as Uganda to focus heavily on talent cultivation education, its practice and capabilities so that there is a perfect balance between supply and demand.”

Huawei Managing Director Gaofei called for urgent need to reform traditional teaching content and focus more on cutting edge technologies because that’s what the industry wants.

“Its important to note that as digitization accelerates in various industries, colleges and universities urgently need to reform traditional teaching content and focus more on cutting-edge technologies, ensure that courses keep up with the times, guarantee that teaching materials are related to industry practices, and help students become more employable. That’s why we are working with various universities in Uganda and are willing to work with more through the ICT Academy program. In Uganda, we now have 17 universities and we have certified their assigned teachers free of charge. We have already surpassed training 5000 and over 2800 students are Huawei certified,” he said.

Airtel Uganda, was commended by Hon Chris Baryomunsi for their pledge to give internship opportunities to the beneficiary students of UICT. According to Airtel CTO, Airtel as per its DNA always supports and promotes programs to encourage aspiring engineers.

“I am thankful to Huawei team to make me part of this program which is focused to build a talent echo system for the ICT industry. Airtel as per it’s DNA always support and promote programs to encourage aspiring engineers to acquire required skills through various programs of on and off class trainings and be ready for ICT Job,” notes Airtel CTO, Mr. Rajesh Agrawal.

“Huawei is a very important partner in Airtel’s journey, and at Airtel we are a satisfied customer of Huawei’s vast range of equipment and resources,” he added.

Other people in attendance was the Dr. Fredrick Kitoogo, UICT Principal , Hon. Joyce Sebugwawo, State Minister for Information Technology, Hon. Kabyanga Godfrey Baluku, State Minister for National Guidance and Ms. Flavia Opio, Team Lead, National ICT Innovation Hub.