Digital infrastructure is key to digital transformation, says Huawei’s Koh Hong

Huawei brought its Huawei Connect global event series to Dubai for the first time to explore new paths to industrial digital transformation. The event, themed “Unleash Digital,” drew over 3,000 industry leaders and experts who discussed initiatives that can help build ICT ecosystems and boost digital economies.

Huawei Connect shed light on where industry digitalization is headed, the opportunities it brings, and how digital technologies can be practically applied in various industry scenarios to fully unlock their value.

In a keynote speech, Ken Hu, Huawei’s Rotating Chairman, shared three ways the ICT ecosystem can help break through common barriers in digital transformation: 

• Boost digital infrastructure, including more robust connectivity and stronger, more diverse computing resources. 
• Help organizations go beyond simple cloud adoption and truly make the most of cloud, focusing on advanced technology services that drive leapfrog development.
• Build out local digital ecosystems including partner development, strengthening the digital talent pool, and providing more support for SMEs.

Steven Yi, President of Huawei Middle East & Africa expressed gratitude to customers and partners for their ongoing trust and reaffirmed Huawei’s commitment to contributing to local development. He also shared three key initiatives of Huawei, its customers and partners, to unleash digital productivity. Together, they work to build a solid digital foundation for all and reinforce local digital ecosystems to support the future of digital nations.

On the sidelines of Huawei Connect, Huawei hosted an exclusive media roundtable with Huawei’s global and regional experts including, Alaa Elshimy, MD and SVP Enterprise BG, Huawei Middle East, KOH HONG ENG, Global Chief Public Sector Scientist, Huawei, and Sheldon Wang, Director of Digital Government, Huawei. 

The executives discussed how to create a national digital foundation focused on emergency response, online education, and smart public services, among other things. The representatives also discussed where industry digitalization is headed, what opportunities it brings, and how digital technologies can be applied practically in various industry scenarios to fully unlock their value.

TECHx spoke with Koh Hong Eng, Huawei’s Global Chief Public Sector Scientist, about how national digital transformation requires a strong ICT digital foundation and how Huawei can enable the government to play a role in ICT infrastructure construction during the roundtable.

“Digital infrastructure is the foundation for accelerating digital transformation and promoting digital economy development,” said Koh. The international community has reached an agreement to promote the development of digital infrastructure.”

He went on to say that, based on Huawei’s years of professional experience in the ICT domain, the company recommends that countries prioritize four tasks when building digital infrastructure.

• Setting up a lead department: Incorporate national digital infrastructure construction into the government’s “top-down” projects to form a significant leadership responsibility system. Set up a dedicated leadership team, determine the lead department for digital construction, and coordinate relevant government/enterprise entities to carry out the national digital infrastructure construction efficiently.

• Optimizing laws and regulations: The construction and operations period of national digital infrastructure is long. It is recommended that the construction and operations be determined through legislation to avoid adverse impacts caused by changes in political and economic factors and ensure continuity.

• Determining the source of investment: Plan the funding sources for the construction and operations in advance, clarify the boundary between government investment and social investment, and provide financial guarantee for the rapid implementation and long-term operations of national digital infrastructure.

• Matching with professional teams: Actively leverage the advantages of professional companies to form a sustainable national digital infrastructure operations mode through market-oriented services. In addition, use digital infrastructure for local ICT ecosystem aggregation and open technology platforms and service scenarios to drive the growth of local ICT enterprises.

Customers from various industries in the Middle East and Africa shared their best practices in digital transformation with Huawei at Huawei Connect.

Huawei also launched the Huawei Empower Program, which aims to assist global partners in developing a thriving digital ecosystem. Huawei will conduct joint innovation with its partners through OpenLabs, empower partners with a new framework, plan, and integrated platform, and create a talent pool through the Huawei ICT Academy and Huawei Authorized Learning Partner (HALP) programs through this program. Huawei also announced a $300 million investment in this program over the next three years to support its global partners.