Huawei co-sponsors ICTA for ‘e-Swabhimani 2020’ Digital Social Impact Awards

From left: Huawei Vice President Indika De Zoysa, ICTA Program Manager Indumini Kodikara, Huawei Sri Lanka Chief Executive Officer Liang Yi, ICTA Chairman Jayantha De Silva, ICTA Chief Executive Officer Eng. Mahinda B. Herath, ICTA Chief Technology Officer Hiranya Samarasekera, Huawei Deputy Chief Executive Officer Xiao Hua Ricardo

World’s leading ICT provider, Huawei co-sponsors Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) for e-Swabhimani 2020 – Digital Social Impact Awards program that recognises the excellence of the use of Information and Communication Technology tools and applications for social wellbeing. e-Swabhimani is an initiative of ICTA, the apex ICT institution of the Government, which functions under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. 

As a platform that hails ‘catalytic innovation’, for social change, e-Swabhimani is the only national award in Sri Lanka that appreciates digital solutions for the benefit of society. 

Launched in 2009, e-Swabhimani successfully has brought to light the best of local talents, encouraging them to greater heights by giving recognition to social causes that has a positive impact on the lives of people. The concept of e-Swabhimani is unique and novel as it celebrates and acknowledges digital applications and solutions of social benefit. “We are indeed glad that a global ICT leader such as Huawei has come forward to co-sponsor e-Swabhimani, the Digital Social Impact Awards which recognises Sri Lanka’s top ICT talent, whilst also encouraging the younger generation to improve their skills and talent along with the new development of ICT technologies to be digital ready. We expect that this national award programme would stimulate a greater interest in the development of a wide range of digital applications that would serve the needs of the society,” Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) Chairman Jayantha De Silva said. 

Aiming to felicitate fluid and intrigued social change e-Swabhimani 2020 calls for applications under several categories. The youth category is introduced for those who are below 26 years of age. Along with the contribution to the society the applications will be evaluated for technical aspects and strategic aspects under each category. 

“This will further ensure Huawei’s commitment to the upliftment and cultivation of ICT skills, talent and digitalisation of Sri Lanka. In recent months amidst pandemic outbreak it is commendable that Sri Lanka has launched several initiatives to lay the foundation for the digitalisation of economy and society in responding to the pandemic. Sri Lanka’s information and communications technology (ICT) sector continues to grow despite the pandemic, and the demand for skilled ICT talent is ever growing. We as Huawei hope to respond to this call to train and upskill ICT talent in collaboration with ICT industry partners such as ICTA with competitive advantage, and will continue to be a core driver of digital transformation in Sri Lanka,” Huawei Sri Lanka Chief Executive Officer Liang Yi added.

“We are proud to be part of Sri Lanka’s ICT transformation, to provide the best experience of Internet broadband access, build infrastructure in order to support digital economy, and enhance ICT knowledge of future generations of Sri Lanka,” Liang Yi further said. 

As nations recover from the aftershocks of the pandemic, globally governments and industries need to work together to cultivate talents and come up with new innovations. COVID-19 has illustrated the need for digital readiness across the globe and to support Sri Lanka, Huawei has recently announced new initiatives since early this year including company’s global initiative ‘Tech4ALL’ in Sri Lanka that focuses on the three priorities: Connectivity, Applications, and Skills that will continue to lower the barriers in terms of cost and coverage through technological innovation. Through this initiative Huawei will empower the ecosystem, and help developers to create more applications for different communities and industries whilst Huawei will work with governments, local communities, and other industries to enhance awareness of digital skills and provide necessary assistance. In Sri Lanka Huawei has been operating since 1998 and has extensive and in-depth cooperation with local mainstream telecom operators, governments, and industry customers. Sri Lanka is a country rich with Human Capital and Huawei is strongly committed to continuously develop high-level information and communications technology and youth talent to bridge the gap between skills and capabilities of university graduates and enterprises. 

Huawei Sri Lanka had entered into new initiatives this year to build up digital skills and to deepen long lasting collaboration with local ecosystem and partners to cultivate ICT talent for the development of Sri Lanka. The initiatives includes a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with leading technological universities in Sri Lanka to enable the educated and talented youth to further enhance their skills in the ICT domain and to be competitive in the ever-growing ICT industry, as part of Huawei’s long-term digital inclusion initiative ‘TECH4ALL’ to support Sri Lanka to fulfil the country’s vision.  These initiatives will create new opportunities for Sri Lankan students to be future and industry ready and to fulfil the future demands of ICT industry. Over the years, Huawei has continuously promoted the development of the ICT talent ecosystem in Sri Lanka through activities such as the Huawei Seeds for the Future program that was launched in 2016, and providing internship for talented youth, and ICT Skills industrial training.