Huawei Ecosystem Summit 2021 in Singapore: Digital Transformation Boosted by the Covid Pandemic
SINGAPORE,April 30,2021 -- Huawei today hosted its annual Singapore Ecosystem Summit,entitled "Transform with Growth,Alliance for Action". The event gathered 2021 participants,including customers,channel business partners,government representatives,academics and industry experts.
In his welcome address,Nicholas Ma,CEO of Huawei International Pte Ltd.,outlined the growth of Huawei in 2020,citing a global sales revenue of CNY891.4 billion,up by 3.8% YoY. This performance was achieved despite the company facing international challenges,including the Covid-19 pandemic.
Nicholas Ma highlighted three key trends observed in this digital transformation era:
The extension of digitization to traditional sectors such as education,healthcare,finance,energy,construction and transportation;
The acceleration of Cloud and Artificial Intelligence (AI) use due to the Covid pandemic;
The convergence of information technology and operations technology (IT & OT convergence).
Recognizing that the pandemic disrupted both supply and demand on the global scene,Nicholas Ma also emphasized that it sped up digital transformation. "According to IDC,by 2022,70% of organizations will have accelerated using digital technologies to drive customer engagement,employee productivity and business resiliency. By 2025,97% of large enterprises will use AI,and 77% of Cloud applications will be powered by AI," he said.
"Based on its post-Covid forecasts and to facilitate digital transformation further,Huawei will continue to innovate in technology,such as intelligent networks,storage,Cloud,data centers and green energy. The company will also develop industry solutions such as video cloud and smart campuses," he continued.
To this end,Huawei launched AILAb,OpenLab and DigiX Lab in Singapore to support joint innovation with various industries. Representing an investment of USD 40 million,the Huawei DigiX Lab,which enables developers to test apps and services for mobile devices,is the first in the Asia-Pacific region.
Huawei Celebrates 20 Years of Presence in Singapore
2021 marks the 20th anniversary of Huawei in Singapore,where it has grown to become a large,localized company with over 730 employees. In 2020,the company achieved positive milestones. As explained by Aaron Wang - Managing Director of Huawei Enterprise Business Group – during his address about "Huawei's 2021 Strategic Business Directions & Channel Strategy",the Singapore Enterprise grew its revenue by 50%. Growth was observed in all major industries on which Huawei is focusing,including Healthcare,Education,Transportation,Financial Services Industries (FSI) and Internet service providers (ISP).
Aaron Wang also mentioned that Huawei will continue this year to focus on 4 + 2 – "4 Star Products"Dorado Storage V6,Wifi 6,UPS Lithium Battery,Transmission DC 908,as well as 2 solutions: Video Cloud and Smart Campus to continuously support customers in their digital transformation journey.
Ivan Low - Deputy Managing Director,Head of Sales & Channel,Huawei Enterprise Business Group - emphasized the company's performance in the city state,with a 47% increase YoY of its channel revenue and a 127% revenue increase by its strategic Focus Partners. Last year,Huawei achieved 100% channel sales,120% growth for the number of total certifications obtained by its professional partners,and a 93% increase in the company's Certified Service Partner (CSP) program.
Another remarkable achievement last year in Singapore was the development of Huawei Cloud,which grew by 10 times,as highlighted by Nicole Lu,General Manager,Asia Pacific Head of Huawei Cloud Ecosystem. The mission of Huawei Cloud is three-fold: empower applications,harness the power of data,and help organizations of all sizes grow in an intelligent world. "Over the past three years,we have launched over 220 cloud services in 23 categories,as well as over 210 industry-tailored or general solutions for 15 industries. These services and solutions meet the diverse needs of governments and enterprises on their journey of digital transformation," she said.
Representing GovTech Singapore,Ms. Sharon Ng,Ministry Family CIO & Cluster Director,commented on "The role of Culture in Accelerating Digital Transformation". "It is not the technology that innovates,it's the people. We need to empower,amplify and unlock people's potential. True transformation cannot occur if people are not fully invested in it,particularly when it comes to new technology. Culture and people are fundamental to achieve transformation success," she said.
During a panel discussion themed "Digital Transformation in the New Normal",four guest speakers representing various industries and public organizations (Mr. Donald Lum,Senior VP of Technology at SATS,Mr Lim Khiang Tong,Head of Group Operations & Technology,OCBC Bank,Mr Yeo Teck Guan,Chief Business Technology officer,Singapore Pools,and Mr Howie Lau,Assistant Chief Executive at the Infocomm Media Development Authority,IMDA) commented on the Covid-19 effects as key drivers to digital transformation.
Mr Howie Lau emphasized the importance of cultivating digital talents to cope with digital transformation. "A key challenge for most corporations,in particular SMEs,will be to find the right balance between today's and tomorrow's investments. How much companies should focus on today's business while building new muscles for tomorrow," he observed.
Brandon Wu – CTO,Asia Pacific,Huawei Enterprise Business Group – commented on the importance of synergizing five tech ICT domains,including connectivity,computing,cloud,AI and industrial applications. "Such synergy is necessary to lower down the technology barriers leading to digital transformation and enable enterprises to focus on their business directions and priorities," he declared.
In addition to current ICT trends and insights shared by the diverse experts and guest speakers,Huawei launched new solutions and products,such as IdeaHub,an interactive whiteboard for smart offices,to cope with the fast-changing pace of global digitalization.
To conclude the summit,Huawei awarded 23 business partners of the year in four categories: Solution Partners,Ecosystem Partners,Outstanding Partners and Partners of the Year.
About Huawei
Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices. With integrated solutions across four key domains – telecom networks,IT,smart devices,and cloud services – we are committed to bringing digital to every person,home and organization for a fully connected,intelligent world.
Huawei's end-to-end portfolio of products,solutions and services are both competitive and secure. Through open collaboration with ecosystem partners,we create lasting value for our customers,working to empower people,enrich home life,and inspire innovation in organizations of all shapes and sizes.
At Huawei,innovation focuses on customer needs. We invest heavily in basic research,concentrating on technological breakthroughs that drive the world forward. We have more than 194,000 employees,and we operate in more than 170 countries and regions. Founded in 1987,Huawei is a private company fully owned by its employees.
For more information,please visit Huawei online at https://e.huawei.com/sg/
