By GIFT NDOLWANE
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – HUAWEI, the global information and communications technology solutions provider, believes technology will drive inclusive, sustainable growth needed for countries to achieve the United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Speaking at the Responsible Global Business Forum being held in Johannesburg, Huawei South Africa Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Jacky Zhang, said while the goals are wide-ranging, they had one thing in
common, which is relying on the enabling power of technology.
Referencing Huawei’s recently published 2017 ICT Sustainable Development Goals Benchmark Report, Zhang said their research showed a 90 percent
correlation between ICT investment and progress in meeting six key Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s).
These goals include Good Health and Well Being, Quality Education, Smart Cities and Communities and Climate Action.
On quality education, Zhang said Huawei had noted how ICT, especially fast connectivity, could create new learning platforms and make radical improvements in the quality and availability of education. “That was the key finding from our SDG 4 (Education) White paper also released this year.”
These technologies include Game Based learning, Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence.
Huawei predictions are that within the next five to ten years, populations will be living in a super-connected world.
With the connections created by the Internet of Things, broadband networks will have to support about 100 billion connections by the year 2025.
Zhang said hence Huawei believed its most important contribution was to build secure and stable networks that will support ICT as an enabler for sustainable development and growth.
“We are investing in technological innovations that will help build a better-connected world, reduce the burden on the environment, and enrich the lives of billions of people,” he said.
Zhang mentioned some success stories in South Africa and Kenya among other projects the company had invested in to help attain SDGs.
– Guardian