by AKANI CHAUKE
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – HUAWEI has hailed its South Africa’s Seeds for the Future class of 2021 for a project aimed at protecting the country’s endangered rhino population from poaching.
The class has been placed in the top ten of the organisation’s global Tech4Good programme.
The recognition coincides with International Day of Education, commemorate on Monday.
It incorporates the theme of digital transformation.
Huawei believes it is fitting to celebrate the innovation and skills of South African ICT learners who are competing on a global level.
The South African project, called “SA-Tech – South Africa’s Intrusion Detection System”, beat out entries from 79 other countries.
It placed in the top ten alongside those from Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Poland, Thailand and Vietnam.
Additionally, the South African project was placed in the top three in the Tech4Good’s Audience Award, voted for by social media users from around the world.
The project aims to bring together cameras and motion sensors feeding information into the cloud via TV whitespaces to help detect poachers.
Poachers are the biggest threat to South Africa’s critically endangered rhinos.
The system is designed to assist the rangers protect wildlife and help keep them safe at night and during the day.
“South Africa is full of talented and skilled young people, but we lack exposure,” said Siyabonga Thomas Shandu from the SA-Tech team and currently a University of Johannesburg student.
“It is through programmes and competitions like these that youth skills, knowledge, and talent can be unleashed, and the youth unemployment rate reduced.”
Shandu believes applied properly, new generation technology from Seeds for the Future 2021 could help transform South Africa into a smart country.
Huawei South Africa has has committed to developing ICT talent through our various programmes like Seeds for the Future, which exposes learners to courses on the latest technologies like 5G, Cloud, artificial intelligence and internet of things.
In 2021, Huawei incorporate this competition under its Tech4Good programme, which is focused on getting students to think about how to use technology to address social and environmental issues.
“It’s wonderful to see how the participants rose to the challenge and have produced a project that competes with the best in the world,” said Huawei South Africa Chief Executive Officer, Spawn Fan.
“As we celebrate International Day of Education today, 24 January, it’s heartening to see how equipping South African learners with the right skills can give them exposure to the global stage.”
Designed to develop skilled South African ICT talent and build cultural understanding, Seeds for the Future is open to all students studying ICT related subjects.
Huawei has run the programme in South Africa since 2016.
Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, said as South Africa looks to capitalise on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, building ICT skills and local innovations would be critical.
She said the success of the Seeds for the Future and the 2021 cohort in particular showed the big impact programmes giving youth an opportunity to access the latest technologies.
“I am very proud of the team’s solution which seeks to protect our very precious rhino population,” the minister said.
– CAJ News