Huawei and the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) have announced the launch of the Huawei Authorised Information and Network Academy (HAINA) at the Huawei South Africa Eco-Connect Conference in Sandton this week. The HAINA initiative is a global ICT technology education program which authorises universities and tertiary education organisations to deliver Huawei certification courses to their students. This will be the fifth accreditation in South Africa following established programs with the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), the University of Johannesburg (UJ), the Durban University of Technology (DUT) as well as the Vaal University of Technology (VUT).

The program adopts the increasingly popular university-enterprise cooperation model and includes training and industry certification in popular ICT technologies, such as WLAN, security, storage and cloud computing.

Through HAINA, IT students at Wits will acquire knowledge of cutting-edge ICT technology and gain elaborate hands-on practical training experiences. At present, Wits students going through this HAINA lab will be able to obtain their HCNA/P-Cloud Computing certification, thus helping to boost their ICT skills to increase their chances of employability. Additionally, HAINA-trained graduates will be given first priority for internships and employment opportunities at Huawei and its partner companies.

Huawei provides certification service by leveraging its years of experience in developing ICT talent. Huawei certification is created to match the career development life cycle of talents for the ICT industry, meeting the needs of various roles, from college students to workplace beginners, associates, professionals, and experts. Huawei certification covers 10 fields and 12 technical directions. It offers the only certification program of its kind in the industry that covers all ICT technical fields.

“The University of Witwatersrand is proud to partner with a global leader like Huawei to bring about competitive ICT skills for our senior students. We look forward facilitating a closer interaction between academia and the industry to help strengthen and provide highly demanded human resources for the IT and telecom fields in the region,” said Professor Ebrahim Momoniat, Professor of Applied Mathematics, and Deputy Dean of Research in the Faculty of Science at WITS University.

Linda Razzino, Channel Service Manager of the Huawei Enterprise Business Group of South Africa, said the company is committed to the continuous knowledge-sharing and development of the technical workforce for the sustainable growth of the ICT ecosystem.  

"As an international ICT innovator, Huawei actively works with partners on joint projects dedicated to up skilling educational environments and providing the youth with more opportunities meet the ICT ecosystem’s long-term need for talent," she added.

With its aim to support local ICT education around the world, Huawei has now extended its HAINA program to more than 130 leading universities worldwide. To date, Huawei has accredited 7 universities in Africa.