The ASEAN Foundation and Huawei signed an MoU to bridge the digital talent gap at the Asia Pacific Innovation Day – Digital Talent Summit 2021 on Wednesday. The online summit brought together policy makers, researchers and industry experts to share solutions and best practices in building a sustainable ecosystem that will help foster digital talent in the Asia Pacific.
The Asia Pacific Innovation Day – Digital Talent Summit 2021 commenced with a series of keynote speeches from government leaders such as Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Political Security Community, Robert Matheus Michael Tene, Chair of the ASEAN Digital Senior Official Meeting Dato’ Sri Mohammad Mentek, Minister of Posts and Telecommunications of Cambodia Dr. Chea Vandeth, Chief of Presidential Staff of the Republic of Indonesia General TNI (Purn) Dr. Moeldoko, Minister of Youth and Sports of Sri Lanka, Namal Rajapaksa, the Philippine Ambassador to China, Jose Santiago L. Sta. Romana and Permanent Secretary of Thailand Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, Prof. Sirirurg Songsivilai.
The speakers stressed on the importance of key stakeholders’ proactive participation in developing a solid foundation for the digital talent ecosystem in the region.
Delivering the keynote address, Minister of Youth and Sports and State Minister of Digital Technology and Enterprise Development, Namal Rajapaksa said, “We are delighted to see companies such as Huawei are already taking action in cultivating the talents for the region. In Sri Lanka, Huawei helps in providing digital infrastructure for an affordable, high- speed internet access, particularly for students in poor households or remote areas. “At the same time, Huawei cooperates with universities to develop ICT students and provides software and hardware required for ICT application development. The joint innovation model has encouraged our students to innovate and conduct research into cutting-edge technologies in industries such as 5G, AI and cloud-computing.
“In the future, we look forward to cooperating with Huawei to build an innovative ecosystem bringing ICT knowledge to digital talent and empowering SMEs to better adapt to the digital transformation of our country,” he said.
The importance of digital talent in sustainable development was emphasised in the virtual roundtable discussion involving notable speakers from UNESCO, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and Maxis.
Another key activity of the summit was the presentation of Huawei’s 2022 Asia Pacific Digital Talent Insights. The white paper, which was presented by Senior Consultant for National Digital Talent Development Alex Lee, chronicled the tech company’s efforts and journey in fostering digital talent in Asia Pacific.
Participating online at the event, Senior Lecturer, Department of Information and Communication Technology, Faculty of Technology, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Dr. Pulasthi Gunawardhana said that Sri Lanka has great potential in digital transformation.
In future when 5G rolls out at scale, connectivity, cloud, AI, computing, and industry applications will come together to create opportunities for the ICT sector in the country and region therefore Digital Talent development must be a key area to be focused to generate more employment to younger generations of Sri Lanka.
And we appreciate Huawei’s effort and initiatives in digital talent development in Sri Lanka to prepare the future for our local talent.”
The ASEAN Seeds for the Future will also help contribute to achieving the objectives of ASEAN Digital Master plan 2025, which is to increase the capacity of youth in the region to participate in the digital economy and to create a digitally inclusive society in ASEAN.
The ASEAN Seeds for the Future is due to be launch early next year, inviting youth aged 15–30 in ASEAN to immerse themselves in a virtual journey of capacity building on leadership and digital skills.