Kenya’s Mount Kenya University is on the global map this first quarter of 2024, for the institution’s prowess in ICT.
Daniel Ocholla, an IT student at the university, will be representing the region in the finals of the 8th Huawei ICT Competition.
Ocholla and other students performed exemplary well last month at the sub-Saharan regional level. Now, the group of regional winners is set to proceed to China in May.
This African team will participate in the Huawei ICT Competition finals to be held in the 2nd quarter of this year. Their rivals will be students from other parts of the world, who won in their respective regions.
Huawei presented awards to the regional winners of the 8th Huawei ICT Competition last month in their respective countries.
The top performers from the different regions are expected to meet in Shenzhen next month for the final leg of the Huawei competition.
The decision to make Shenzhen the venue for the Huawei ICT Competition finals seems appropriate, considering Shenzhen’s technological advancement.
Shenzhen is a big coastal city in China, which the global community recognizes as a major technological hub. To many, Shenzhen is the Silicon Valley of China.
Daniel Ochola among Top Three Regional Winners
Daniel Ochola is a Kenyan student studying Bachelor of Science in Information Technology at Mount Kenya University, Thika campus.
He topped the group of 5,800 participants who competed in the Huawei ICT 2023/24 competition for the sub-Saharan region. He was even among those who were rewarded on March 15, 2024, in the presence of Kenya’s Education Secretary, Ezekiel Machogu.
Daniel Ocholla’s excellence in information technology put him among the top three regional winners of the Huawei ICT Competition 2023/24.
In a TV interview, Ochola underlined his passion for innovation and technology, saying it was the reason he excelled in the IT competition.
The sub-Saharan regional winners are expected to travel to Shenzhen in May, for the Huawei ICT Competition finals. There, they should meet other finalists from Asia and other parts of the world.
When the 2023/24 Huawei ICT Competition began, over 2,000 tertiary institutions from 74 countries of the world participated.
At regional level, students from 15 African countries showcased their innovative skills, and from among them, 21 Kenyans emerged victorious.
On Friday, March 15, 2024, these regional winners received awards and internships for their outstanding performance.
The Structure of the Huawei ICT Competition
The ICT Competition was initiated in 2015 when the Huawei Talent ICT academy was established. The global event seeks to facilitate the exchange of innovative ideas among IT students.
The competition accepts applications from Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and elsewhere in the world.
It has three tiers: national, regional and global levels. Top performers for every region represent their respective regions at the finals. Therefore, every country participating in the Huawei ICT Competition can have its students in the finals, as long as they excel at regional level.
This year, 150,000 students are expected to take part in the Shenzhen finals. These finalists come from 23 countries, but they will be in Shenzhen as representatives of their respective regions.
Huawei has invested in over 50 universities and colleges in Kenya. The corporation has established ICT academies that aim to train in excess of 4,000 students. Those at the Huawei sponsored academies specialize in cloud computing, networking, clean energy, 5G, and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Winners from the Asia-Pacific region
In Asia, Huawei recognized the regional winners on 18th April. These Huawei competition winners were announced at a ceremony held in Jakarta.
The regional participants were in excess of 6,400, and they came from 14 countries.
The occasion to reward the regional winners was graced by the Secretary-General of ASEAN, H.E. Dr Kao Kim Hourn, the President of Huawei Asia Pacific, Mr. Simon Lin, and other ASEAN ambassadors.
Huawei disclosed its intention to continue supporting advancement in ICT. In this regard, the corporation highlighted its plan to initiate 500 academies across the Asia-Pacific region.
It is estimated that these institutions will have trained 2 million students by 2025.
For now, Kenyans are rooting for Daniel Ocholla and his counterparts, who did Kenya proud at the competition’s regional level. This team of IT savvy students is scheduled to participate in the Huawei ICT finals.
It will be the pride of Kenya and the region if the participants bring home some awards from Shenzhen, in June or thereabouts.