19 Nepal Students conclude Huawei’s global flagship Seeds for the Future program

NepalKhoj Report 22 Dec, 2021

Kathmandu, Huawei concluded this year’s Seeds for the Future – its global flagship CSR program for undergraduate level students in Nepal at an event in Kathmandu today. 19 students from 8 universities and 13 educational institutions coming from 9 different ICT backgrounds participated in the program which was held for the first time in Nepal.

Having completed all requirements of the program, the students were awarded a certificate of completion by the Guest of Honor of the Program, Hon’ble Minister Devendra Paudel, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

Between Oct 6 and Nov 7, Huawei received 136 applications from all over Nepal on its application portal seedsnepal.com which was open to all undergraduate students. After a competitive selection process, the Seeds for the Future Selection Committee composed of distinguished ICT professors selected 19 undergraduate students, including 4 from outside the Kathmandu valley, who took part in the 8-day online training with international peers, participated in the Tech4good project, visited a Huawei-built 4G base station in Ghandruk and attended classes from industry experts from DishHome and Ncell.

The students will also get a chance to participate in the Tech4Good global competition where they can pitch their idea on leveraging technology to solve social and/or environmental problems and win prizes upto 20000 USD.

Seeds for the Future was first launched in 2008 in Thailand. Since then over 9,000 students from 130 countries and regions have participated in the program.

The guest of the honor for the closing ceremony were Her Excellency Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Nepal, Hou Yanqi and Hon’ble Minister, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Devendra Paudel. Ambassador Hou congratulated the 19 students on successful completion of the training. Her Excellency highlighted that in order to benefit more people in the Asia-Pacific region, governments should adhere to the principles of innovation-driven development, ignite the new engine of the digital economy, and enable the achievements of digital technologies. She hoped that graduates of the program would aspire to become pioneers in science and technology, and serve as a bridge between China and Nepal. Ambassador Hou praised Huawei for its 21-year commitment to Nepal, its involvement in building Nepal’s information network, and its efforts to help all sectors in Nepal carry out digital transformation.

Speaking at the program, Hon’ble Minister Paudel thanked Huawei for its work in the ICT sector in Nepal and in the development of Nepalese students in the ICT sector. He praised Huawei’s Seeds for the Future program and requested Huawei to introduce other programs such as this. He also hoped for the graduates to share the knowledge they have received with their peers. “I hope that Huawei, which has been progressing globally in the ICT sector, can work to make Nepalese youth more tech-friendly,” he said.

The Selection Committee members who have been involved with the program since the very beginning also shared their praises for the program and Huawei. Prof. Timila Yami Thapa called out experts in this area to give a lot of input in ICT sector, and also to give focus on students, especially girls in rural areas for technical education.

The students shared their Tech4Good projects – 2 novel mobile applications – at the event. Students Ankit Khanal and Yunika Bajracharya shared their respective projects – Growers’ Point and Saathi. Growers’ Point aims to provide farmers direct access to consumers without having to rely on middlemen. Saathi wants to help type-I diabetes patients keep track of their glucometer readings and provide alerts for insulin dosage.

For his closing remarks, CEO of Huawei Nepal, William Zhang congratulated the finalists and expressed pride on Nepal’s 100% graduation rate. He hoped that the students could encourage their friends to apply to the program in the future. And would continue their learning journey on Huawei’s online learning platform. He also thanked Huawei’s partners DishHome and Ncell for giving the students insights into their respective industries.

Program summary
Students attended classes on 5G, AI and Cloud: