The Deputy Managing Director at Huawei Ghana, 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 organisations 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 in his interaction with a section of the media during the maiden edition of the ‘Huawei Day with the Media’ held in Accra on Friday.

He said,“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.

“Organisations 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 personalised 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. Therefore, it is important for all countries and businesses to embrace digitalisation now to prepare for the future,” Mr Quansah added.

Speaking on Huawei’s role during the pandemic, Mr Quansah noted, “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 minimise the impact of the pandemic on their business”.

He added that Huawei has been operating in Ghana for more than 15 years, working with all local telecom operators and in the most difficult times.

Mr Quansah said despite the difficult times, the company has not stopped providing service support to customers, understanding the importance of network reliability time like the pandemic.

In Ghana, Huawei’s support went beyond the network support; the organisation also focused on digitalisation in the areas of education and supporting young talents.

“At a time when students couldn’t go to school, the most feasible option was to go digital. Huawei, therefore, introduced several initiatives to offer ICT skills training to Tertiary students through the Huawei Study at 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 several 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 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.