Huawei has officially launched its ICT Academy Program 2.0, as it aims to develop 2 million technology professionals and popularize digital skills in the next five years.

A statement on Monday from the technology company in Lagos said it hoped to achieve the 2 million target by collaborating with universities across the world. It added that the initiative was part of Huawei’s digital inclusion programme tagged: TECH4ALL, aimed at expanding “the benefits of digital technology to everyone, everywhere.”

In its five-year plan, Huawei is expected to develop 2 million ICT professionals just as it continuously update its school-enterprise cooperation solutions in cutting-edge technologies, such as 5G and Artificial Intelligence (AI), the statement noted.

“To achieve this goal, Huawei will set up the Huawei ICT Academy Development Incentive Fund (ADIF), with a total investment of at least $50million (dollars) over the next five years.

“This fund aims to help ICT academies operate stably by: Providing teaching experiment equipment for cooperative universities to improve students’ practical skills; Training teachers through ADIF, providing free exam vouchers to encourage students to take Huawei’s certification exams, and setting up an education fund to reward excellent teachers and students.

“Others include: Holding the Huawei ICT Competition to provide a platform for students to communicate with their peers and show their talents as well as cooperating with partners on ICT Talent Job Fairs to help students find jobs and promote efficient matching between talent supply and demand,” the statement read.

Commenting on the launch, Hank Stokbroekx, Vice President of Enterprise Service, Huawei Enterprise BG, said the company would continue to establish more ICT academies.

“Every year, we will build 600 – 1,000 Huawei ICT Academies. By doing so, we aim to benefit more university teachers and students in the digital world; enable more people to enjoy equal and high-quality education, enhance digital skills, and inject fresh impetus into the industry.

“The launch of Huawei ICT Academy Program 2.0 marks a new stage of Huawei’s talent ecosystem development.

“In the future, Huawei will deepen cooperation with all parties in the ecosystem, increase investment, and accelerate the construction of an all-round, full-cycle sustainable talent ecosystem to fuel the digital transformation of industries,” he said.

It will be recalled that Huawei has, since 2015, partnered with more than 600 international universities to set up Huawei ICT academies, helping the universities improve their ICT teaching abilities and training more than 1,500 teachers.