Huawei announces first Tech4City competition winners

Source: Huawei. Tech4City winners and finalists pose with VIPs.

Team See Your Voice from the National University of Singapore has won Huawei's first Tech4City competition. See Your Voice beat eight other finalists to win S$10,000 with an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven wearable sign language digitalisation and translation system for the deaf. 

The project aims to assist the deaf to achieve a better quality of life and build an inclusive community. In addition to the prize money, the winning team will also be fast-tracked into Huawei’s Seeds for the Future 2023 programme. Team members are eligible for an internship with the company.

He Gong, Team Lead for See Your Voice said: “We want to build an inclusive and equal society with AI-driven accessible solutions.”

In second place was team MANGO from the National University of Singapore with their Mobile Assistive Navigation Application for Guiding Older Commuters powered by Augmented Reality solution. Team Homeground Heroes was ranked third with a marketplace that seeks to spark a cultural revaluation through turning regular citizens and merchants into everyday 'culturalists'.

The Tech4City competition falls under Huawei’s TECH4ALL initiative – a long-term, digital inclusion programme that uses technology, applications, and skills to empower people and organisations.The inaugural Huawei Tech4City competition aimed to empower youths to create innovative solutions using digital technology that contribute to build a sustainable and liveable Singapore. 

The competition attracted 368 participants from local universities and polytechnics to work on the themes of nature, culture and 'neighbour'. In the shortlisting phase, 141 team proposals were assessed on depth of research, innovativeness and feasibility, social value, use of technology and logical implementation of the idea.

 
Guest-of-honour Low Yen Ling, Singapore Minister of State, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) & Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said: “I would like to commend Huawei Singapore for holding the first-ever Huawei Tech4City Competition. It raises our youth’s awareness of how digitalisation and sustainability can be positive forces in solving today’s challenges and bringing our world forward. 

"The competition is an excellent platform for our youths to brainstorm and develop ideas to tackle salient and urgent issues - whether it’s reducing carbon emissions and improving food sustainability or building our social and cultural capital and creating a resilient and inclusive city.”

“Tech4City was conceptualised to empower local youths with the tools to take control of their future by building ideas to create interconnected, sustainable and ultimately, a better Singapore,” said Foo Fang Yong, CEO, Huawei International. 

“With the finals, we have seen many fresh ideas of how we can build a liveable city where we are proud to live in. At Huawei, we have always believed that the function of technology goes beyond being a tool. It serves as a form of empowerment to help us create a sustainable and inclusive community, where talent is the key to making this happen. 

"We are also committed to working with our industry partners, institutes of higher learning and government agencies to align with Singapore’s Green Plan 2030, while empowering more local tech talents with a future-forward mindset to solve real-world challenges.”

Jun Zhang, VP, Huawei Asia Pacific said: “We are always looking for ways to engage the community better. One such example is through ideation competitions like Tech4City, where we can harness the ideas from youths for practical implementation. We believe that young people have and will continue to play an important role in the region’s, and the world’s economic development. 

"To that end, as part of our five-year talent plan starting from 2021, we are committed to investing US$50 million and cultivating 500,000 talents through multiple programmes including Seeds for the Future, ASEAN Academy, and ICT Academy, etc. by 2026.”