JINJA: Seventeen Ugandan students from Universities of Muni, Kyambogo and Makerere universities have been flagged off to represent Africa in ICT Global Competition in Shenzhen, China.
The team is set to leave for China on May 21, 2023 and after seven days in which a winner of the competition shall be announced.
The students are under DigiTruck project of Huawei’s TECH4ALL initiative company’s long-term action plan for driving inclusion and sustainability across the globe.
They have been flagged off by the third Deputy Prime Minister and Minister without Portfolio, Ms. Rukia Nakadama Isanga the the Civil Service College-Uganda in Jinja City.
“These students we are flagging off today are going to represent Uganda and Africa,” Nakadama said.
“We are expecting them to come back with better results in ICT innovation skills,” she added.
The students are to compete with about 48 countries. 150 competitors are from the sub-Sahara, Northern Africa, Asia America, Europe and the Middle East.
The Chinese Ambassador to Uganda Mr Zhang Lizhong said Uganda is an important partner for China in Africa, the two states enjoy good traditional friendship.
Mr. Lizhong added that mutual relationship between Uganda and China will continue to yield positive results.
The DigiTruck project will focus on providing digital literacy skills training to youth, Jua-Kali enterprises, and women to create sustainable livelihood opportunities and expand the customer landscape, allowing small businesses to provide clients with a greater range of products and services.
In the same event 80 participants received certificates in ICT DigiTruck mobile training that is currently in Busoga sub region to train pupils,youths and business communities to market their products through technology innovation.
However,the Deputy Mayor of Jinja City Ms Fazira Kauma appealed to the Huawei company not to forget the visually impaired persons in the ongoing projects as in most cases PWDs are less considered in programs.
Ms Fazira also warned the pupils and students who are undergoing the Digi-Truck ICT training to use the knowledge profitably but not in bad activities that will result in crime.
