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Deputy Managing Director at Huawei Ghana, Mr Kweku Essuman Quansah has called for an accelerated digital transformation, citing the COVID-19 pandemic as a wake-up call for authorities and industry to step up their digitalization efforts.

According to Mr Quansah, while 2020 had its fair share of challenges, it also came with opportunity. “The pandemic ended up greatly expediting the digital transformation of organizations around the world and as new technologies like AI continue to mature, efforts to go digital will expand beyond the office and into homes, schools and all aspects of life and work to bring about an intelligent upgrade”. He said this when he spoke to a section of the media during the maiden edition of the “Huawei Day with the Media” held in Accra.

He said that, “the 4th industrial revolution is here with us and new technologies like AI, 5G, Big Data and Cloud Computing are taking humanity into uncharted territories with endless opportunities. Organizations and Governments are now operating from the cloud making services more accessible while intelligent computing is changing the way we interact with technology to a more personalized experience. The COVID-19, therefore, cemented how crucial innovative technologies are to ensuring uninterrupted everyday life and business activities.” “We were basically living remotely from work to healthcare, digital technologies proved to be the most effective companion, it is therefore important for all countries and businesses to embrace digitalization now to prepare for the future.” Mr Quansah added.

Speaking on Huawei’s role during the pandemic, Mr Quansah noted that, “The year 2020 was unique in changing the lifestyle of every person by showing the importance of digital technologies in everyday life. Given the challenges of the pandemic, Huawei as a leading Global ICT Company in 2020 supported the stable operation of more than 300 networks in more than 170 countries and helped operators provide online services and minimize the impact of the pandemic on their business”. He added that Huawei has been operating in Ghana for more than 15years, working with all local telecom operators and in the most difficult times and the company have not stopped providing service support to customers, understanding the importance of network reliability at such a time like the pandemic.

In Ghana Huawei’s support went beyond the network support, the organization also focused on digitalization in the areas of education and supporting young talents. “At a time when it was impossible for students to go to school, the most feasible option was to go digital. Huawei, therefore, introduced a number of initiatives to offer ICT skills training to Tertiary students through the Huawei Study at the Home initiative of the Huawei ICT Academy as well as the Sky Seeds for the Future which benefitted some a cumulative number of about 3000+ Ghanaians.” Mr. Quansah said.

The Deputy Managing Director lamented that a number of social projects were implemented to support the country’s fight against COVID-19, stating that Huawei installed video conferencing facilities at Ministries of Communications and Health to help promote remote meeting during the pandemic. The company also donated body temperature sensing cameras to the government to help check for persons exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 while the donations of PPEs and smart devices were made to Korle-Bu and Nyaho Hospitals.

The Huawei Day with the Media was organized by Huawei Ghana as part of efforts to engage the media, to strengthen the relationship and share the company’s contributions toward building a digital economy, while giving the media the opportunity to better understand operations on Huawei in Ghana.