Huawei to support ASEAN 4IR agenda

Having adopted the consolidated strategy on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) at the 38th ASEAN Summit in October last year, ASEAN organised a socialization webinar for the Strategy, themed, "Embracing the 4IR: Outlook, Strategies, and Plans for ASEAN".

The strategy, as revealed at the webinar, was built upon the existing 73 4IR-related initiatives undertaken by ASEAN so far, which is likely to increase in number in the coming years.

As efforts to realize the Fourth Industrial Revolution require collaboration amongst stakeholders, advanced technology provider, Huawei again expressed its commitment to support ASEAN 4IR agenda, it said in a statement.

The webinar was attended by Satvinder Singh, the Deputy Secretary-General of the ASEAN Economic Community and Will Nankervis, Australian Ambassador to ASEAN.

Diverse ASEAN stakeholders, such as Dicky Edwin Hindarto, Advisor for Indonesia Joint Crediting Mechanism; Sharlini Eriza Putri, Co-Founder & CEO of Nusantics; Amarti Charoephan, ASEAN Director for Techstars Thailand/Impact Collective; Dr. Le Hoang Dung, the Chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Teacher Education Network; and David Lu, President, Strategy Marketing Dept, Huawei Asia Pacific Region were also present.

"Although ASEAN, in general, has recorded a fantastic growth rate, there are still many aspects that need to be improved," said Satvinder Singh. "One of them is artificial intelligence (AI) investment, which is still far below compared to AI investments made in countries such as the US and China.

He also mentioned that a holistic approach allows 4IR to not only be used as an engine for the region's economic growth and competitiveness but also to promote inclusivity and sustainability.

David Lu said, "Huawei wants to add to our collaboration footprint in the region to create an interconnected ASEAN and bridge the digital divide. We will work closely with the ASEAN Economic Community to provide the technology, infrastructure, and digital talent it needs. Together, we will bring benefits such as reliability, lower latency, more effective and efficient production, and digital transformation to every industry. Moreover, we will also make a transition to a green, carbon-neutral, and sustainable
economy."

To date, Huawei has contributed to half of all 5G projects across industries in the world, including in the port, mining, and education industries.

Sharlini Eriza Putri concluded, "Startup companies have a much faster pace, as well as the ability to disrupt conventional methods. ASEAN youth must take part in narrating 4IR, especially around critical issues such as health and environment. Therefore, homegrown startups in ASEAN must be fully supported."

Huawei has a major program specifically for startups, called Huawei Cloud Spark, which was launched in August 2020. Through this program, Huawei collaborates with the government, leading incubators, venture capitalists, and universities to build a supporting platform for the emergence of new startups in Southeast Asia. Recently, together with the BISA AI educational institution, Oudpro Indonesia, and the UPN Veteran Indonesia Computer Science Study Center, Huawei held an AI Creation program that challenges young people to design a startup with AI technology solutions as its main focus.