Above: Jeff Jin speaks at the virtual launch of Seeds of the Future 2020.

“Initiatives like this are necessary to bridge work in the classroom with work in the field,” said Professor Brian Copeland of the University of the West Indies.

“Covid-19 has put digital transformation on the agenda for every organisation. Hands-on training is a critical commodity in these times, the endgame is the commercialisation of intellectual property.”

Thirteen UWI students joined seven undergraduates from the UTT to begin training for five days as part of Huawei’s Seeds for the Future programme.
The number of students selected increased because of the switch to virtual coaching. The project previously offered hands-on training and experiences in China, culminating at the company’s Shenzen headquarters.

“We have reviewed the programme to adapt to an online setting,” said Tricia Henry, HuaweiTT’s Public Relations Manager.

“This would allow students to have a mixture of face-to-face interactions as well as recorded learning. They will be exposed to ICT courses including 5G, AI, cloud computing, and HMS core.”

“They will also have the chance to have live interactions with Huawei personnel on other topics including international business and how to innovate in the AI and Robotics era.”

“Students will also have an interactive session focusing on an introduction to Mandarin.”

More than 5,700 students from 126 countries have attended Seeds for the Future training and 30 students from this country have participated.

Valene Rampersad, one of two students who attended the programme who are now employed by Huawei, urged students selected for the programme to be proactive and to take advantage of the opportunity as if they were present in China.

For 2020, Seeds for the Future is entirely virtual, but Huawei’s commitment to the project, now in its fifth year in TT, remains solid.

According to Jeff Jin, who leads HuaweiTT, “We will continue the Seeds for the Future programme in Trinidad and Tobago. We look forward to hearing from our partners on how we can contribute to digital transformation.”

Canto’s Teresa Wankin, who served on the student selection panel called for more public-private partnerships to drive ICT development.

TSTT’s acting CEO, Lisa Agard, was more specific, noting that “The demand for skills in ICT has skyrocketed and companies are looking for people with skills that schools have not begun teaching yet.”

“TSTT has had its own challenges accessing the ICT talent it needs. We are looking for international leadership skills.”

Senator Hassel Bacchus, Minister in the Ministry of Public Administration left students and attendees with much to consider.

“It is not that there is success as a result of hard work, but there is no success without hard work,” Bacchus said.
“Digital transformation will not come down from the sky and change everything.”
“Digital transformation is ultimately about people; it is really about using technology to improve access to services across the country.”

The 2020 Seeds of the Future Student Cohort

University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine Campus

• Jeremy Baksh – Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Romario Chung – Computer Science (Special)
• David Aaron Deonarine – Computer Science with Management (Special)
• Casey Forde – Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Stephen Ghool – Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Rebecca Gibbon – Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Katherine Lue Attin – Industrial Engineering
• Kalyani Mathura – Industrial Engineering
• Brandon Mohammed – Computer Science, Physics
• Raeanne Ramharrack – Computer Science (Special)
• Neera Ramsubhag – Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Kevin Sankar – Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Timothy Singh – Computer Science (Special)

University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT)

• Matthew Edwards – Software Engineering
• Rajiv Ganesh – Software Engineering
• Antonio Ganesh Sammy – Software Engineering
• Ronaldo Henry – Network and Telecommunications Engineering
• Aaron Maynard – Software Engineering
• Quinn Sambrano – Software Engineering
• Deven Ramlochan – Network and Telecommunications