The awards ceremony was graced by Cabinet Secretary for ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs, Mr Joe Mucheru, Principal Secretary Jerome Ochieng and Huawei Kenya CEO, Will Meng. At the ceremony, CS Mucheru noted the importance of investing in human capital and partnering with those at the forefront globally of technology to provide the content. Additionally, he commended Huawei for its input in building the country’s ICT infrastructure and empowering the country through ICT skills for youth: “I wish to thank Huawei for working closely with the Ministry in developing this training program and for the many other projects we continue to collaborate in. You see that the need for technology is really growing in the country and in the region and we thank you that you have really partnered with us to ensure that we are able to deliver not only for our citizens but even for the businesses so that we can see the kind of growth that is required. We really hope that we continue to collaborate and work together with Huawei technologies and we look forward to a great future together.” The capacity building training was categorized into two cohorts, covering the technical and non-technical training. The technical training aimed at improving the participants’ knowledge on the latest cutting edge technologies including cloud, AI, IoT, big data, network security, digital economy, e-Government and smart cities among other ICT trends. The non-technical training focused on basic knowledge on ICT transformation, cybersecurity and information security. Each trainee was required to complete coursework over a period of one week as well as particulate in live training and take an exam certifications. Speaking during the graduation ceremony, Mr. Joe Mucheru, CS, Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs introduced the country’s Digital Economy Strategy, of which skills and values are one critical pillar, and stated “Capacity building has always been a priority for our Ministry, but this year we have elevated it to even higher level, taking advantage of the enhanced connectivity to provide more online training to staff from all over the country. We are providing skills and knowledge to ensure public servants and citizens can be secure online, understand the latest ICT trends, championing for the roll-out of more e-government solutions and learn about how to use emerging technologies.” “As a Government, we recognize that in addition to infrastructure development and maintenance, the development of skills for our citizens is of utmost importance and especially those of public servants. This is becoming more important than ever as the digital economy grows and the fourth industrial revolution comes upon us. We need to be able to take advantage of emerging technologies such as AI, distributed ledgers, cloud infrastructure, robotics, 5G and the internet of things to spur the socioeconomic growth of our country.” Added Mr. Mucheru. Huawei remains committed to building a healthy ICT talent ecosystem, promoting digital skills, contributing to the success of the ICT industry whilst enabling more people to benefit from the digital world. This has been evident through various other training programs that have benefitted tens thousands of participants over the years. These include supporting the Ministry of ICT’s Ajira program and Presidential Digital Talent Program as well as the Huawei ICT Academy, Huawei ICT Competition, Seeds for the future Program, and Digitruck programme. Huawei also organizes frequent Job Fairs and runs a Graduate Trainee Programme. Huawei Kenya CEO, Mr. Will Meng stated that “the civil servant training was one of the aspects of a multi-pronged capacity building partnership between Huawei and the Ministry of ICT and we will continue to expand this programme in the future”. He further added that “through the partnership we believe that we can make Kenya not only a leader in Africa, but globally. This, along with good ICT infrastructure and skills, can create jobs and provide efficient public services for every Kenyan citizen.” Certificates and trophies were awarded to trainees who showcased overall exemplary performance during the training. Lily Mwendwa, an Assistant ICT Officer at the ICT Authority claimed 1st place award for the technical training, and Bernard Munyiri Matu, a Senior ICT Officer at Laikipia County Government, claimed 1st place for the non-technical training. In his speech Bernard noted that “I was especially mesmerized by the in-depth training on smart city and basing on the fact that the counties are innovating to smart city to cure urbanization, this training offered solutions and best practices for building smart cities”. He added: “Having representation from National Government parastatals, County governments and private organization, ladies and gentlemen the future of Kenya looks bright now that we have a threshold on what is E-government and cybersecurity basis thanks to Huawei talent academy and the whole Huawei fraternity at large.” In her speech, Faith Asiko Wambulwa, an Assistant ICT Officer at ICT Authority who claimed third place, appreciated the quality of the training which was provided by local Huawei certified instructors: “I would also like to thank our instructor, Mr. Peter Ngugi [from Technical University of Kenya]. He, without a doubt is the facilitator of our success. Thank you so much Sir, for always being available to answer our many questions and for explaining over and over a certain concept whenever we didn’t get it until you were sure we have understood clearly.”
