Huawei Technologies Nepal Co Pvt Ltd hosted this year’s Closing Ceremony of ‘Seeds for the Future’ at an event in Kathmandu on Tuesday. ‘Seeds for the Future’ is the company’s global flagship CSR program for undergraduate level students from all ICT-related disciplines. This is the second year that Huawei has launched a program in Nepal.

According to the press statement issued by Huawei Technologies Nepal Co Pvt Ltd, this year, the company said it received 256 applications from all over Nepal. A total of seven students were then selected on the basis of their GPA, motivation letters and a selection interview conducted by Prof Dr Shashidhar Ram Joshi, Prof Timila Yami Thapa, Prof Dr Subarna Shakya, and Prof Dr Manish Pokharel.

The seven students selected from Nepal include Nirman Khadka (Kathmandu University) - B. Tech in AI, 1st year, Banshaj Paudel (Madan Bhandari Memorial College)- BCA, 1st year, Jatin Bhusal ( Khwopa Engineering College)- Bachelor’s in Computer Engineering, 4th year, Reeya Baidya (IoE Pulchowk) - Bachelor’s in Computer Engineering, 3rd year, Nadika Poudel ( IoE Pulchowk )-Bachelor’s in Computer Engineering, 3rd year, Pragya Mallick (Kathmandu University) - Bachelor’s in Electrical and Electronics Engineering and Anju Tamang (Amrit Science Campus ) - Bachelor’s in CSIT, 2nd year.

According to Huawei, since their selection in July, the students received insights into the ICT industry in Nepal via various engagements. The students have received classes on the data center business in Nepal, learned how FTTH internet works during their visit to the offices of DishHome, and taken part in Chinese calligraphy and Chinese paper cutting workshops at the China Culture Center in Kathmandu. The students are also being engaged by UNESCO as part of the organization’s “The Next 50” campaign.

The students participated in the first-ever regional onsite program held in Bangkok from Aug 19 - Aug27 where they learned about the Metaverse, 5G, AI, Cloud Computing, Digital Power and other emerging technologies while also seeing practical applications of 5G and engaging in cross-cultural learning with 116 students from 16 countries. They participated in the ‘Tech4Good competition where they were required to come up with an original idea to combat real-world environmental or social problems. They demonstrated their idea – Advait, a one-step solution for detecting counterfeit medicine using cloud, AI and blockchain technology. In addition to that, Team Nepal was also one of the 7 winning teams out of 24 to join the Tech4Good accelerator camp held in Singapore from Aug 29 – Sep 2.

Speaking at the event, the chief guest of the program, Anil Kumar Dutta, Joint Secretary and Ministry of Communications and Information Technology said that investing in the youth is investing in the future and hoped that the students would choose to further their careers in Nepal. The selection committee members expressed pride at the students’ achievement in Thailand.

Similarly, Prof Dr Shashidhar Ram Joshi congratulated the students for being selected in the ‘Seeds for the Future’ program. He said that the knowledge sharing sessions in Thailand and Singapore have helped them polish their ideas and they can go on to become the future entrepreneurs. Moreover, CEO of Huawei Nepal, William Zhang, said that Huawei wants to continue to be able to give talented students a platform for international exposure and learning.

The ‘Seeds for the Future’ program was first launched in 2008 in Thailand. Since then, over 12,000 students from over 130 countries and regions have participated in the program.