Huawei and key TECH4ALL partners showcased the growing role of Huawei's TECH4ALL initiative in Europe's digital and green transformation at Huawei Connect Paris 2024.
The TECH4ALL Forum on day one of Huawei Connect explored several new and existing TECH4ALL projects and the value these are creating in driving sustainable development for the benefit of both people and the planet.
"We believe that technology and partnerships are at the heart of digital and green transformation and are central to building an inclusive and sustainable digital world," said Jeffrey Zhou, President of ICT Marketing at Huawei. "That is the thinking behind our TECH4ALL initiative, which we launched five years ago in 2019 and which today is stronger than ever."
At the event, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) introduced the Tech4Nature global partnership, which Huawei and IUCN jointly launched in 2020 to scale up success in nature conservation through technological innovation. Aligned with Huawei's TECH4ALL initiative and the IUCN Green List, Tech4Nature has supported 11 flagship projects in eight countries with tailored solutions to conservation challenges.
"Tech4Nature is a global partnership between the nature conservation sector led by IUCN and the tech sector led by Huawei. It's a crucially important partnership because technology needs to be part of the solution to the biodiversity and climate crises facing the planet. Tech4Nature is about tapping into the innovation and energy of the tech sector to help solve these issues," said James Hardcastle, Global Protected and Conserved Areas Director for IUCN.
Phase II of Tech4Nature kicked off in 2024 with new projects launched or scheduled in five countries, including a biodiversity monitoring and protection project in Spain's Sierra Nevada, which was launched last week.
The Greek startup PROBOTEK introduced the new forest fire prevention and response system developed under the TECH4ALL initiative. Working with the Greece government, project partners PROBOTEK, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, and Huawei selected Skiathos in October 2024 as a pilot site for Phase II of the solution. Comprising sensors, 5G, AI, and drones, the solution is expected to mitigate the potential devastation caused by forest fires by enabling an emergency response within the first 'golden 15 minutes' of detection, sending evacuation routes to residents' phones, and planning routes for fire trucks and ambulances.
In the area of education, UNESCO has partnered with Huawei TECH4ALL on the Open School initiative and UNESCO Campus. At the TECH4ALL Forum, UNESCO presented its strategies for boosting education equity and quality on a global scale.
"UNESCO's STEM strategy aims to amplify the efforts of the UNESCO Member States in promoting STEM education by building a robust ecosystem that supports the development of critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and innovation. It emphasizes a number of actions, including increasing youth engagement in STEM fields, improving teacher capacities, and promoting gender equality and inclusion," said Magdalena Landry, Director of the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe.
TECH4ALL partners Close the Gap and Konexio explored how the DigiTruck projects are driving digital inclusion through digital skills training for priority communities in France, including the elderly and unemployed youth. To date, the project has reached 6,000 people across 31 cities. At the DigiTALL event held in the evening, the two partners received an award for their contribution to digital inclusion and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Under its TECH4ALL initiative, Huawei has worked with a range of partners, including governments, NGOs, IGOs, carriers, environmental organizations, universities, and technology companies. Given the pivotal role that technology plays in driving both inclusion and sustainability, Huawei expects to develop more projects and partnerships in Europe in the future.