Students from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Panama, Suriname, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic participated in technological and soft skills training.
After a week of technological training and with significant female participation, the Huawei Technologies Seeds for the Future 2023 program concluded in Costa Rica.Here 92 technological career students from 10 countries in Central America and the Caribbean lived an experience of cultural exchange, under the axes of promoting technology, innovation and environmental protection.
The ninth edition of the Semillaspara el Futuro program culminated with an award ceremony for the students of the 10 participating delegations, last Monday, October 16, at the Crown Plaza Corobicí hotel, located in La Sabana.
Seeds for the Future
Huawei’s flagship Global CSR program has been operating for 15 years and, locally, has been implemented since 2015 in the Central American and Caribbean region.
This initiative selects outstanding students to experience a technological and cultural experience. The young people are accompanied by experts from the regional technology sector.
During eight days of camp, the delegations from Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Suriname and Venezuela; They were trained by Incae.
They received technological immersions, resolution and innovation tests, soft skills workshops, as well as visits to the Café Britt operations plant and a tour of points on the Costa Rican Pacific coast.
Increase in female participation
Hand in hand with the “Tech4Good” project, students had the opportunity to put into practice their acquired knowledge and delve deeper into the innovations provided by technology. The delegations had to address the social and environmental problems of their countries of origin.
Part of Huawei’s efforts is to reduce gender gaps and promote greater female participation in this type of intercultural meetings, where technology and environmental protection are the main axes.
Currently, female participation in the Semillaspara el Futuro Central America and the Caribbean program rose to 44%, well above the 15% that was managed in the first editions of the initiative.
This is the case of Zoe Vega, representative of the Costa Rican delegation and student at the Universidad Latina, who highlights her experience in the program, through which she experienced an environment of inclusion and learning aimed at women in the area of technology.
How women grow in the technological field
“This is a reflection of how women grow in the technological field. We have received courses from both Incae and Huawei and this helps us enormously in the workplace. So I firmly believe that, with the project, it makes us more complete people,” said the student.
“Many times young people are not given the opportunity and space. This is driving us to give our ideas, as professionals of the future that we are, which motivates us to think about projects that can solve the problems of this society,” Vega added.
Green Macaw Protection
At the same time as the award to the students, the Huawei firm launched the “Huawei TECH4ALL in Costa Rica” project together with the National System of Conservation Areas (Sinac), for the protection of the green macaw populations in the country, being on the list of endangered species.
The technology consists of installing radios in waterproof boxes, which are placed in trees at a height of 20 meters, in order to monitor the behavior and increase in the population of these bird species. The system is synchronized using the RB1 Radio phone application.
“The opportunity that Huawei currently gives us to coordinate with the organizations that are already making efforts, in a timely manner, helps us with the latest generation technology, artificial intelligence and using sensors such as audiobots, which will allow us to collect information. .of limpets and other species,” said Mario Coto, director of Sinac.
Andrés González, Sinac Conservation Areas biologist, stated that through the initiative they are covering more than 1,500 kilometers. He explains that the devices are collected six months after their placement, from which they obtain information that is “difficult to record with traditional field equipment.”
“The green macaw, being the second largest psittacine on the planet, in Costa Rica we have the opportunity to protect it and get it off that list of endangered species, well, it becomes a great opportunity,” stressed Coto.
Cultural exchange
In addition to training in innovation and technology, students from Costa Rica and El Salvador highlight the intercultural experience of this regional program.Kevin Hernández, representative of the Salvadoran delegation and a graduate in Computer Science, defined the experience as “extraordinary” in the academic field and as a cultural exchange.
“For me it was the first time, meeting people from other countries. The opportunity to discover solutions to contribute in different regions is valuable. I take with me the experience, the friendships and the knowledge to apply in the future in my country El Salvador,” said Hernández.
“It is a great opportunity to expand our minds, by being in our country we learn, but these opportunities for cultural exchange make us see that there are solutions and opportunities beyond what we do and that there are companies that are committed to young people and technology” , he added.
Fernando Figueroa, a Salvadoran student studying Computer Engineering, highlighted that the program allowed the delegations to leave their comfort zone, based on the activities and tours developed during the Incae training.
“Not only did I learn from Huawei, but I also learned from the people I met about 3 or 4 days ago and with whom I managed to get along very well. Meeting people from Costa Rica, Panama and Honduras, all those experiences have taught me something valuable, which will probably remain marked in my life forever,” said Figueroa.
For his part, Alex Agüero, from the Technological Institute of Costa Rica (TEC) in the Electronic Engineering degree, stated that the program helped him in the field of innovation and technology. This through training tools for the generation of ideas and solutions to various problems, including soft skills.“We had a good taste in our mouths, because all of us who participated from Costa Rica did our part and in the end we gave our best in this week of training”.
“Likewise, we also learned about different cultures from Central America and the Caribbean, which is very important, to develop not only technical skills, but also soft skills that are so necessary in our country,” declared the TEC student.
“We believe that we can contribute greatly to local communities by working hand in hand with our clients, partners and stakeholders since we all share the same vision of wanting to promote the digital transformation of our region, to achieve this the most important thing is to invest in talent, training future generations with technical skills and business tools is the most important step we have identified to build a robust ecosystem,” emphasized Daniel Ding, vice president of Huawei Central America and the Caribbean.
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