Officially launched earlier this week at the University of Nairobi by President Uhuru Kenyatta, the presidential digital talent program (PDTP) that is set to offer ICT training and internships to Kenyan youths has selected Huawei technologies to be part of its advisory council.
As part of the council, the Chinese company will contribute to ensuring smooth implementation of the PDTP initiative by providing mentorship and training on various sectors of ICT development including networking, infrastructure, certification and IT security among others.
Announced for the first time last year, the PDTP has been introduced in line with the country’s vision 2030, the Jubilee Coalition manifesto as well as the ICT MastePlan 2017 that was developed by the ICT Authority through the Ministry of ICT.
The program aims to create a country that incorporates ICT in all its operations and provide a platform to address the current shortage in ICT talent through training and mentorship that will ensure ICT is effectively used in government services and operations, facilitating for better customer delivery.
With the launch, a pool of interns was selected from the list of those who applied for the program and will go through a 3-month internship program that will provide them with the necessary skills needed to perform and compete in the job market.
Planned to train at least 200 interns in one year, the PDTP program has so far received up to KSh20 Million worth of capital, training and certification from the now selected into council, Huawei Technologies.
Huawei has been part of various initiatives and projects in the ICT sectors across the country and Africa as a whole and continues to express its commitment towards developing ICT talent in the continent and beyond through partnering governments, learning institutions as well as other organizations.
The Chinese corporation is also part of a monitoring committee for the ICT MasterPlan, following a partnership deal with the ICT Authority signed into action in June of last year that tasks Huawei with the role of local ICT advisor to the authority.
Also part of the partnership is the Huawei Seeds for the Future initiative that provides training and mentorship to ICT students in their last year of study or who just completed, and also offers tours to its headquarters in China for some of the interns to get further mentorship.
