The current pandemic is affecting the way of live for most people from different background. The ICT sector has also been affected but may be one of the areas where adapting to the changes of social distancing and working or attending classes at home may not be that big of a problem.
This is evident even with the ICT Authority as the Authority has begun recruiting its fifth cohort of DigiTalents. The authority has announced that even as this is happening, they are still supporting the current cohort before they graduate later this year. One of the ways the ICT Authority is supporting the talents is by equipping them with the latest skills that they may find useful down the road.
The 400 DigiTalents, as the Authority refers to them, are managed and supported though an online portal to make it easier to match them to internships as well as mentors and is the same one that is used for submitting and assessing innovations. With the current pandemic, this is probably one of the key advantages on this setting as it ensures everything goes on as usual in a cost-effective manner.
To ensure the students get the best skills, the ICT Authority has called upon Huawei, one of its private sector partners, to help provide the latest cutting-edge training to the students. The Authority and Huawei signed an MoU in 2014 and then again in 2017 focused on capacity building as key components.
“I want to thank you especially for the continued support and collaboration in several programs that Huawei has been supporting under the skills and career development toward our Digitalents. Even our state corporations have great interest in technology training that Huawei is offering”. Said Zilpher A Owiti, Head of Capacity Development & Literacy, Programme Manager and National Coordinator PDTP.
With its East Africa Training Center in Kenya, over 30 Universities and Institutes certified as training partners, and access to the best global training materials, Huawei was able to step up to the task. Over 150 DigiTalents received training and (should they pass the exam) will be certified free-of-charge, joining the more than 1,200 other students from the program in recent years to have been trained.
After completing their testing, the participants will have access to free Huawei learning resources and tools including eNSP, Fusion Computer and different AI models. They also become Huawei Certified ICT Associates and will be fast tracked for future job interviews and hiring by Huawei and its partners.
Also Read: Huawei initiative to support E-learning during Covid-19 pandemic
