SHENZHEN, China, May 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 26, the closing and awards ceremony of the Huawei ICT Competition 2023–2024 Global Final was held in Shenzhen. This year's competition attracted more than 170,000 students from over 2,000 universities and colleges across more than 80 countries and regions, making it the largest offline competition since its launch. More than 160 teams, adding up to a total of 470 contestants from 49 different countries and regions, made it through national and regional competitions to reach this year's global final, held in Shenzhen May 23-26.

After fierce competition, 19 teams from nine countries (Algeria, China, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, the Philippines, Tanzania, Türkiye, and Uganda) won the Grand Prizes of the Practice and Innovation Competitions. The Best Social Media Popularity Award was won by a team from Pakistan. The Green Development Award was won by two teams from China and Morocco. The Women in Tech Award was granted to four teams from Kenya, Malaysia, Morocco, and Uganda. And the TECH4ALL Digital Inclusion Award was won by two teams from China and the Philippines.

Zhou Hong, President of Huawei's Institute of Strategic Research, said: "To make sure everyone can truly enjoy the benefits of digitalization while such technologies are making radical progress, Huawei believes it is crucial to guarantee that digital technologies are accessible to all."

Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, said in a video message:,"UNESCO works to uphold the basic rights and agency of every learner and teacher when using digital technology and AI, and promote an inclusive, equitable, open, and secure digital future for all. Many thanks to our partners like Huawei for their longstanding support."

Ritchie Peng, President of Huawei's ICT Strategy and Business Development Department, stated: "ICT is the cornerstone of the intelligent world. Through the Huawei ICT Competition, we aim to provide students with a global platform to compete and exchange ideas."

On the same day, Huawei also held the ICT Accelerating Education Transformation Summit. At the summit Huawei awarded 24 instructors the title "Huawei ICT Academy Global Most Valuable Instructor." The awards, given out for the first time this year, aims to show gratitude for the important contributions the instructors have made to talent development, and mark them as role models showing how the brightest minds can grow even brighter. These role models will help drive sustainable development of the ICT talent ecosystem.

The Huawei ICT Competition is an annual contest held by Huawei for global university and college students. Through the competition, Huawei aims to provide students with an international platform for healthy competition and exchange of ideas. Since its launch in 2015, the competition has helped students enhance their ICT knowledge and practical skills, while also increasing their ability to innovate by using new technologies and platforms. The ultimate goal is to advance technological development and facilitate digital inclusion around the world.