Chinese and global leading ICT solutions provider, Huawei has donated an assortment of ICT study equipment to Makerere University’s Colleague of Computing and Information and Science to aid in the hands-on study in the Huawei ICT academy launched in 2019.
Speaking at the receipt of the equipment, the Makerere University Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe applauded the Chinese company for the donation that he said will go a long way in ensuring the students have hands-on in what they study in ICT.
“We are very excited about its potential in changing the IT landscape in Uganda and beyond. I am grateful to Huawei for this donation. I know them (Huawei) and I have been to their headquarters, they are a market leader and have heavily invested in research and development,” Nawangwe said.
He also applauded the company for the Huawei ICT academy launched in 2019 at the university as is to train and certify over 1000 students free of charge in the next two years.
The NITA-U Executive Director, Dr. Mugasa Hatwib, said the donation will go a long way in helping digitize Uganda.
“We thank Huawei for this wonderful donation. Collective participation is how we shall digitize Uganda. I love research and innovation and I believe that this donation shall aid in the same,”Mugasa said.
Prof . Tonny Oyana, the Principal College of Computing and Information science emphasized that the ICT Academy initiative is right within Makerere University’s strategic plan that is being implemented between 2020 and 2030
The Huawei’s Managing Director, Gaofei said the donation is a fulfillment of the pledge the company made to Makerere University to help them in the hands-on study at the academy.
“This is a fulfillment of our Memorandum of Understanding signed in May 2019. We shall also donate to three more academies in Uganda,” he said,
“With this donation, we believe that we shall trigger exploration which lights the way forward. We believe that this exploration begins with sharing wisdom and exchange of ideas to open up exciting new possibilities in a digital world.”
The Huawei ICT academy course combines both theories and practical operations which range from enterprise networks such as routing and switching, advanced network and network technology, information technology such as storage, cloud computing and big data among others.
