Huawei Jamaica signs MOU with HEART/NSTA-VTDI

The HEART/NSTA-VTDI (Vocational Training Development Unit) is set to benefit from a major contribution from Huawei through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed at the company’s Hope Road head office last Thursday.

Huawei handed over equipment to the VTDI, which is the second academic institution that Huawei has partnered with to establish its Huawei ICT Academy, the first being The University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona.

Under the MOU Huawei will also provide training in PV solar technician, IP certification, fibre optics technology and telecom frequency and technology.

“Huawei will be providing over US$100, 000 worth of equipment and training to HEART and to the VTDI to be able to deliver this training to young Jamaicans develop ICT talents. We believe that there is a great demand for the ICT skillset in Jamaica and around the region,” said Courtney Hamilton, director, Enterprise Business Group at Huawei.

Bo Zhou, country manager, Huawei Technologies Jamaica, said the Huawei ICT Academy will contribute to the digital transformation of the country through the use of ICT.

“The ICT industry and the green energy industry are growing rapidly and so talent is key for the country’s development. There is a huge demand for the ICT professional talents in the industry and we realise that and as a company in Jamaica Huawei would like to contribute to this country’s development,” Zhou said.

The Huawei team was joined by minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, Floyd Green, along with members from HEART at the signing of the MOU.

For the past 15 years Huawei has been working with local communication service providers to provide ICT solutions for digital transformation and ICT growth of the country.

MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL

Zhou also added, “The collaboration between VTDI and Huawei is a mutually beneficial partnership that will provide students with more practical experience and employment opportunities. The VTDI and Huawei ICT Academy is going to play an important role in Jamaica’s digitalisation.”

“The government sees this as a tremendous opportunity in the ICT space for small identical space to be able to take advantage of the changes that are happening to leverage technology to ensure that the people are at the forefront of the changes. We believe in order to embrace the change that is happing across the world and in order to develop a digital society, then a foundation must start with training,” Green said.

Delize Williams, director/principal VTDI, echoed similar sentiments, and said they are grateful to Huawei for the opportunity.

“This partnership with Huawei therefore is very important to us. The partnership we’ve been brought upon today will provide opportunity for the VTDI and Huawei to collaboratively promote the development of Jamaica’s local ICT talent. It will provide a bridge between industry and the institution and create employment opportunities for certified talent. This partnership aligns with VTDI’s mandate, to train and certify professionals,” Williams said.

Huawei provides employment for more than 50 people with 80 per cent of them being Jamaicans. The company believes that solar energy will take off in Jamaica in a huge way, with such assertation the decision was made to partner with the institution to train technicians citing that they would be needing hundreds of them to be employed in the field.