Huawei investing on students at KTH Kista
Here are the five students from KTH Kista who will participate in Huawei's two-week program Seeds for the Future. In cooperation between KTH and Huawei, they will have the chance to experience the world's largest economy through the world's largest telecom company.
- China is a country under constant change. To arrive in Shenzhen twenty years ago when it was just farmland stands in contrast to today, when it has developed into one of the world's largest urbanized areas. KTH is very pleased that together with Huawei, we have found a way to cooperate that benefits our students and vice versa, says Jens Zander, Dean, School of ICT.
China has set itself the goal of building the world's largest 5G mobile network, and the total spending on 5G infrastructure by mainland China’s three telecommunications network operators is forecast to reach up to US$180 billion over a seven-year period. Only one of these, China Mobile - the world's largest mobile network operator - announced plans to start building 5G mobile networks in major mainland cities from next year and will be able to launch full commercial services 2020, according to South China Morning Post.
It's the combination of technology and culture exchange that Huawei's global CSR flagship program Seeds for the Future focuses on. The program was launched by Huawei in 2008, aimed at developing local ICT talents, improving knowledge transfer, promoting increased understanding and interest in the telecommunications sector, and enhancing and encouraging regional construction and participation in digital society.
The trip for our five students will involve two weeks of training at Huawei Training School in ICT technology, visits to Huawei's offices in Beijing and Shenzhen, as well as discovering Chinese culture and historical landmarks. Minister for Housing and Digital Development Peter Eriksson visited China this spring, and also visited the Huawei Beijing Exhibition Center. That visit was to promote export in IT and digitalization, but also to discuss sustainable cities, something Dean Zander asked the students to pay attention to:
- Sweden has traditionally been at the forefront of digitization, and collaboration in partnerships is important in that respect. China is also making huge investments in technological development, robotization and automation. You will see this initiative first-hand by traveling there and I hope you can use what you see and experience in your future studies, Zander said in a speech to the students before their departure.
Li Strandberg and Anna Isacson, both studying a degree in Computer Science and Economics, see this trip as a great opportunity to gain an insight into how the world's largest economy aims to be better at digitizing.
-This will be a perfect opportunity for us to gain inspiration and practical experience and knowledge of modern communications technology. But also see and understand what difficulties and limitations we can encounter in today's industry. My goal of visiting China is to find a problem or constraint that may arise in the current industry and use this as a basis for my degree project, says Isacson.
