Frank Dai calls Huawei’s investment in cybersecurity around $132.5

At the recently concluded HUAWEI CLOUD Summit Middle East and Africa 2022 in Dubai, UAE, Huawei reiterated the cloud’s integral role in accelerating the region’s digital transformation and inspiring innovation across its industries. Under the theme, “Inspire Innovation with Everything as a Service”, the summit brought together over 1000 government leaders, customer representatives, and industry experts from the Middle East and Africa, exploring how cloud computing can serve and advance industries such as public services, finance, carriers, media, e-commerce, and gaming. During the summit, experts also shared how industries can better leverage cloud and AI technologies across various functions. 

On the sidelines of the summit, Frank Dai, President, HUAWEI CLOUD Middle East, shared in an exclusive media roundtable, HUAWEI CLOUD’s vision of building the cloud foundation for an intelligent world with ubiquitous cloud and pervasive intelligence and detailed how HUAWEI CLOUD is providing ‘Everything as a Service’.

“Cloud is the future of ICT and the foundation of digital transformation in the Middle East. Cloud transformation has become a top priority for industries. To build the cloud infrastructure, there are four essential elements: technology, economic impact, talent ecosystem, and digital sovereignty. To this end, Huawei Cloud is working with partners to deepen digitalization and provide Everything as a Service,” said Dai. 

He added, “The key to successful digitalization is an all-digital, all-cloud approach with Everything as a Service, which is underpinned by three pillars – Infrastructure as a Service, Technology as a Service and Expertise as a Service. This can accelerate digital transformation while also minimising the carbon footprint from their IT infrastructure, speed up the development of new apps and business processes, and enable organizations to innovate faster.” 

Dai also spoke about Huawei’s focus on data security and privacy protection. The Company has invested heavily in cybersecurity, around $132.5 billion in terms of R&D with 5% of that investment going directly to cybersecurity. Huawei uses full-stack security products and ecosystem products to help customers build a security assurance system to ensure the security and reliability of customers’ services on the cloud.

Furthermore, Dai also highlighted that technologies such as 5G, IoT, and cloud, are more in demand than ever before. When combined, these technologies create immense productivity gains, especially during the unprecedented circumstances of a pandemic. They form the bedrock of a digital economy by enabling intelligent and flexible operations. These technologies are also providing new opportunities for SMEs to improve operational efficiency, promote innovation, expand their market and financing channels, and facilitate remote operations during the epidemic.

When asked about the cyber risks associated with cloud and AI adoption, Dai told TECHx Media, “Cybersecurity is a technical issue that must be addressed with technical solutions. To meet customers’ cloud security requirements, Huawei Cloud creates a hierarchical security management system and offers solutions based on ecosystem partners and cloud-native security services.”

“It is a secure and reliable platform. It has currently passed over 100 security certifications around the world. Security and trustworthiness are integrated into the R&D, delivery, and O&M processes, enabling cloud users to access full-stack security services via 20+ cloud-native security services, as well as 300+ security ecosystem products and MDR services. Huawei has made significant investments in cybersecurity, spending approximately $132.5 billion on R&D, with 5% of that investment going directly to cybersecurity, transforming people, our own organization, products, and solutions to be safe and secure. At Huawei, we design all of our solutions with cybersecurity and privacy in mind from the start. Also, we believe that openness and inclusion are the keys to future digital prosperity, and we discussed Huawei’s desire for comprehensive collaboration on cyber security and privacy protection guided by a 4P strategy: Public, Private, Professional, and People,” Dai added.

Dai told TECHx Media about the major goals Huawei has set to promote cloud adoption in the region: “HUAWEI CLOUD is empowering and enabling organizations of all sizes to digitally transform their business operations and key services. HUAWEI CLOUD Abu Dhabi Region was officially launched to meet the needs of governments, enterprises, the Internet, and SMEs, and we are building a cloud region in Saudi Arabia this year. The hosting of the HUAWEI CLOUD region in the Middle East will improve local businesses’ and governments’ access to more robust and secure cloud services from Huawei, while also creating new social and economic value in Saudi Arabia.”

Last year, HUAWEI CLOUD launched the Abu Dhabi Region, and this year the company is building a cloud region in Saudi Arabia, with plans to expand to other markets. Hosting of the HUAWEI CLOUD region in the Middle East will boost local businesses and governments’ ability to access more robust and secure cloud services from Huawei and create new social and economic value in the region.

During the summit, Sara, Huawei Cloud’s first digital employee, made her debut in the region through holographic projection. The summit also showcased  Huawei Cloud’s Spark Program 2022. The program will support local start-ups and partners in building their cloud capabilities.

Huawei has been present in the Middle East and Africa for over two decades and has been providing open, flexible, and secure ICT infrastructure to bridge the digital divide for more than 3500 enterprises and over 1.2 billion people in these two geographies. In 2021, Huawei Cloud Middle East announced an investment of USD15 million to accelerate the development of local enterprises and ecosystems. This money will cultivate more than 1000 consulting partners, 500 technical partners, 3000 certified experts, and several hundred SMEs.

Looking ahead, HUAWEI CLOUD will continue to expand the global data center and network layout and is committed to providing customers, partners, and developers with one global network with a reliable experience. Currently, HUAWEI CLOUD has 27 regions worldwide, providing 220+ cloud services and 210+ solutions for 170+ countries. Collaborate with 20,000+ partners to contribute to digital transformation.