Partnership is intended to foster the planning, development and implementation of Internet of Things projects
Photo: Bruno Todeschini
On Jan 26, PUCRS and Huawei renewed an agreement intended to expand the scope of operation of Smart City Innovation Center PUCRS Huawei to the area of education. As a consequence, PUCRS will start offering a Huawei-certified extension program on the Internet of Things (IoT). The event featured the President of PUCRS, Br. Evilázio Teixeira, Huawei’s Brazilian Vice President of Government Relations, Liu Wei, and the Minister of Social Agrarian Development, Osmar Terra. “We’re planning the future with concrete projects, preparing people to change the cities where they live into safe and smart places”, said Dr Teixeira.
Wei adds that education and development are among the pillars for the expansion of Huawei in Brazil. “We’re in Brazil, for Brazil, with the mission of investing in the training of the youth in the area of ICT and speed up the processes towards digital transformation”. By 2019, Huawei intends to have provided training to 40,000 people in the country. One of the strategies to accomplish that is to work together with universities and the government. By 2017, the company had provided training to more than 28,000 people.
Vinicius Fiori, coordinator of training projects of Huawei for Brazil, claims that education is at the core of the company’s social responsibility. He contends that it has been very difficult for companies to find qualified IT and telecommunications professionals and, in the shortage of qualified personnel, the viability of implementing projects such as the smart cities, 5G and the internet of things in large scale in the country will be jeopardized.
Photo: Bruno Todeschini
Fabiano Hessel, coordinator of the Center, adds that the implementation of this project has aroused the interest of businesses and public managers as it will make it possible to make cities into places more suitable to the needs of the people in areas such as health, safety, education, agriculture and urban mobility. “By working together with the different sectors of society, we felt the need to train human resources to work in this new market. In 2017, in partnership with Huawei, we provided training to 95 people”, says he.
On the other hand, Mr Terra made mention of the relevance of Tecnopuc for the State of Rio Grande do Sul in attracting major companies such as Huawei, “making us protagonists in the development of technological transformations”. The company’s project in partnership with PUCRS is also focused on research and development.
About the Smart City Innovation Center PUCRS Huawei
Opened in 2016, the Center provides assistance to cities and industries to understand the challenges related to Smart Cities and Internet of Things projects and to suggest possible and viable solutions of easy implementation. This support is most easily felt in the identification of the time-to-market: the priorities, the business model to be applied and how to generate value and information. Thus, it is possible to deliver things that facilitate people’s lives in reliable and accessible communication platforms, as different actors can be integrated.
About Huawei
Photo: Bruno Todeschini
Huawei is a global leader in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions and its mission is to enrich people’s lives through communication. Committed to client-centered innovation and relying on solid partnerships with the local industry, the company is devoted to the generation of value for telecommunication companies, businesses and consumers, thus offering high-quality and innovative products and solutions in more than 170 countries and territories. Relying on more than 180,000 employees all over the world, the company serves more than a third of the global population. During its 18 years of existence in Brazil, it has become a leading company in the national fixed and mobile bandwidth market following the partnerships with the main telecommunications companies. It has offices is São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, Curitiba e Recife, a distribution center in Sorocaba (SP) and a Training Center in São Paulo.
