The FINANCIAL — Huawei held a ceremony to launch the Cairo OpenLab during the Cairo ICT 2017 conference. Huawei, together with industry alliance and partners in Northern Africa, aims to build ICT ecosystem in Northern Africa in response to industry digital transformation.
Cairo OpenLab represents the 8th OpenLab targeting enterprise customers, is located in Egypt to serve and influence all of Northern Africa. This OpenLab, situated in the Smart Village office of Cairo, has been operating as a Research and Development facility for about a year and now is officially open to customers and partners. Currently, the OpenLab is approximately 400 square meters and is estimated to expand to over 1,000 square meters in the next two years.
Cairo OpenLab focuses on the innovative areas of public safety, smart grid, smart city, smart government and smart education. The business operates through four functional centers: Partner development center, solution joint innovation center, talent training and certification center, and industry experience center, according to Huawei.
Mr. Ni Zheng, President of Huawei Enterprise Business Group, Northern Africa Region, stated: “We established the OpenLab in Cairo so that we can make full use of the advantages of Egypt and serve all of Northern Africa. First, the ICT industry market in Cairo is relatively mature and its marketing capabilities influence surrounding countries. Second, Egypt recognizes the significance of industrial digital transformation, and the local industry chain ecosystem supports this transition for a number of industry enterprises. In addition, the education industry in Egypt is relatively well developed, with more than half of the top 15 African universities of UK QS Ranking located in Egypt, also contributing to the advancement of the region.”
Mr. Xu Guoyu, Vice President of Industry Marketing & Solutions, Huawei Enterprise Business Group, said on the launch ceremony: “Cairo OpenLab is an important part of Huawei’s global OpenLab plan as Huawei serves local regions through its global expertise, talents, technologies, and customer business successes. As a result, Huawei contributes to industry ICT ecosystem development locally.”
Compared to traditional technology-centric labs, Huawei OpenLab is market-oriented, and aims to develop hardware and software services as well as solutions with industry alliances and partners based on customers’ requirements during their digital transformation. Mr. Ni Zheng indicates: “For business success in the digital transformation of enterprises, the Huawei OpenLab ‘platform and ecosystem’ strategy provides distinct advantages for R&D, human resources, and joint marketing.”
Until now, Huawei has established 7 OpenLabs targeting enterprise customers globally, including Suzhou, Munich, Mexico City, Singapore, Dubai, Johannesburg, and Bangkok. OpenLabs have become the centers for joint innovation, development, verification, and expertise for customers and partners, including collaborative development with more than 400 solution partners.
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