Business Desk

Huawei has awarded the winners of its ICT competition ‘Women in Tech’ at its Gala Ceremony held on Tuesday (4th June) at hotel in Dhaka . Inspired by the theme "Tech for Her, Tech by Her, Tech with Her", the competition was launched for the first time in Bangladesh last year. With UNESCO as the strategic partner, the competition aims to develop local ICT talent and enable knowledge sharing among current female STEM students at universities and those who graduated in the last two years.

From 750 participants, 18 were selected for the final round. At this stage there were two types of competitions - Individual and Team. Team-based ideas are selected based on how innovative solutions are possible using ICT and their potential for business success. The winning teams were selected through a detailed process that included evaluating the rational of problem statements, innovation in idea, business case, and assignment scores. Individual winners were chosen based on several interviews, exams, and evaluation during the project.

'Dhara' was selected as the Champion of the competition. 'Dhaara' worked with how solar energy and other technologies can be used to ensure safe water supply for the households. The first runner-up is 'Terra Bin', whose business idea was how to turn waste into resources using solar composters and other technologies. 'Solnet' is selected as the second runner-up. Their team’s idea was how to easily and efficiently build and operate solar plants using cloud technology and apps. The champion, 1st and 2nd runner-up received prize money worth Tk 3 lakh, Tk 2 lakh and Tk 1 lakh, respectively. They can use this money to implement their plans\

Additionally, four participants win in the individual level for their excellent performance. The winners are Kaisari Ferdous, student of EEE department of Dhaka University, Mahmuda Nayem, graduate of Islamic University of Technology, Sumaiya Tarique Labiba, design verification engineer of sBIT Limited and Safrina Kabir, student of EEE department of Islamic University of Technology.

Honorable State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak, MP, Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, was present at the Gala Ceremony as the Chief Guest. H.E. Mr. Yao Wen, Ambassador of People's Republic of China to Bangladesh, Ms. Zara Jabeen Mahbub, MP, Member of Parliamentary Standing Committee for Foreign Affairs, and Engineer Md Mohiuddin Ahmed, Chairman, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) were the Special Guests at the event. Also present at the event were Dr. Susan Vize, Head of Office and UNESCO Representative to Bangladesh, Prof. Dr. Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, Vice-Chancellor of IUT and Mr. Pan Junfeng, President, Huawei South Asia & CEO, Huawei Bangladesh.

Honorable State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak, MP, Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, said, “I am really impressed by the main motto of ‘Women in Tech’ - Tech for Her, Tech by Her, Tech with Her. The performance and capacity demonstrated by the women in this program are impressive. I would like to request Huawei to keep contributing to the building of Smart Bangladesh through such initiatives.”

H.E. Yao Wen, Ambassador of People's Republic of China to the People's Republic of Bangladesh, said, “I want to express my thanks to Huawei for leveraging digital and communication technology to improve the well-being of women and for contributing to deepening bilateral cooperation between China and Bangladesh. In today's program, we can see how the women possess potential for the ICT sector in Bangladesh.”

Mr. Pan Junfeng, President, Huawei South Asia & CEO, Huawei Bangladesh, said, “Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has put an emphasis on increasing female participation to 25% in ICT sector by year 2026 and envisioned to have 50% female professionals in the ICT industry by 2041. As a localized company in Bangladesh, Huawei has always attached high importance to females on job, internship opportunities and ICT upskilling in its various talent development programs. ‘Women in Tech’ program is such a program to provide business and technological training for female students and employees in the tech industry to improve their knowledge and capabilities. We will continue our efforts on females’ ICT talent development.”

Huawei launched its ‘Women In Tech’ project in 2020 globally. Besides this competition, Huawei also organizes ‘Seeds for the Future’ and ‘Huawei ICT Competition’ to highlight the youth’s potential and propelling the nation towards a more inclusive and technologically advanced future.