What is the most important thing in the 21st century?
The answer is, of course, talent.
Talent is the core element driving technological and industrial progress. The remarkable achievements of China's reform and opening-up are inseparable from the drive of the "talent dividend". Relying on a talent cultivation system that integrates basic education, higher education, and vocational education, the country has steadily trained and supplied a large number of talents, laying a solid foundation for the development of various industries.
This is especially true for the ICT industry. As a typical knowledge-intensive sector, the ICT industry has the strongest demand for high-quality talent. Without sufficient talent, it is difficult to achieve technological R&D, product innovation, and network construction.
However, over the past decade, we have observed some peculiar phenomena in the supply and demand of talent in the ICT industry.
On the one hand, the industry complains about insufficient talent supply and the inability to recruit suitable candidates. On the other hand, many young ICT majors complain about the difficulty of job hunting and the inability to find suitable jobs.
Where exactly does the problem lie? What challenges does ICT talent cultivation actually face? And how should they be resolved?
It should be pointed out that what we are discussing today is no longer just ICT talent in the traditional sense. Given the rapid development of AI (Artificial Intelligence), large models, and computing power infrastructure, the industry's demand for talent is shifting from single technical skills to a comprehensive understanding of computing systems, basic software, computing power, and industry applications.
In other words, ICT talent cultivation is entering a new stage of "AI computing talent cultivation".
█ ICT Talent Cultivation Faces Arduous Challenges
In fact, talent cultivation in the ICT industry has always been under tremendous pressure. The industry is evolving at an extremely fast pace. The rapid iteration of technology means that the demand for the quantity and quality of talent far exceeds the supply capacity of the education system.
The ICT industry has a continuous demand for talent, but there is a certain threshold for entry into this field. Practitioners not only need to possess a rich reserve of professional knowledge but also solid practical capabilities; furthermore, there are higher requirements in areas such as innovation and collaboration.
The update speed of the traditional talent cultivation system has clearly failed to keep pace with the development of technology and the industry. The curriculum system, teaching content, and practical sessions are significantly lagging, and the gap is continuously widening.
This has led to a severe disconnect between talent supply and demand, specifically manifested as follows:
Enterprises complain: There is an urgent shortage of high-quality talent. Although they receive numerous resumes, very few are suitable. The professional and technical capabilities of new employees are weak, requiring retraining after onboarding, which increases the cultivation cycle and costs.
Students complain: They have clearly studied hard and achieved good grades, yet they cannot find jobs. They do not know what to study; the knowledge learned in school is useless at work, and they have to relearn everything.
Universities complain: They have done their best to teach students knowledge and skills, but it is difficult to precisely align with the rapidly changing industry demands. They feel overwhelmed in teaching and lack faculty and practical environments in cutting-edge technologies.
In the AI era, the contradiction between talent supply and demand has taken on new changes. Enterprises need not only people who can use tools but also composite talents who can understand the underlying principles of computer systems, master hardware-software collaboration, adapt to domestic computing power platforms, and truly deploy algorithms into industrial scenarios. If universities continue to organize teaching solely around knowledge points and single skills, it will be difficult to meet the computing industry's requirements for system and engineering capabilities.
According to the "White Paper on China's ICT Talent Ecosystem" jointly released by EY and Huawei, by 2025, the numerical gap in China's ICT talent will exceed 20 million, and the overall supply-demand gap shows a trend of continuous expansion.
If the contradiction between ICT talent supply and demand cannot be resolved as soon as possible, it will not only severely restrict industry development but also affect industrial innovation, causing us to miss the critical opportunity for digital transformation and upgrading.
█ Strengthening University-Enterprise Cooperation to Cultivate Computing Talent for the AI Era
So, how should the dilemma of talent cultivation be resolved?
Therefore, what university-enterprise cooperation needs to solve today is not just the traditional contradiction of "enterprises lacking people and universities supplying them", but also to jointly answer a new question: In the AI era, what kind of talent truly possesses industrial competitiveness?
The answer is: those who master both the basic theories of computing and possess practical capabilities on computing power platforms; those who understand both algorithms and software development, as well as system deployment and performance optimization; those who can both accomplish technical implementation and carry out innovation oriented towards industry problems.
Enterprises are the demand side of talent cultivation. To resolve this dilemma, the key still lies with enterprises and the industry.
Reverse intervention from the demand side to the supply side, transmitting frontline industry technologies to universities, and providing universities with directional guidance, faculty training, and practical environments required for talent cultivation, has become a highly effective solution. This is university-enterprise cooperation.
Here, we must mention a classic case of talent cultivation in the ICT industry in recent years—the Huawei ICT Academy.
As an industry leader, Huawei has always attached great importance to talent cultivation. In terms of training systems, processes, architecture, and resource construction, Huawei has always been at the forefront of the industry.
In 2013, global ICT technology ushered in a new round of transformation, and the talent gap was huge. At that time, Huawei took talent as a breakthrough and officially launched the Huawei ICT Academy (also known as Huawei Information and Network Technology Academy) project.
Huawei possesses strong technical capabilities and can provide abundant training resources. At the same time, they have a deep understanding of real industry scenarios and the specific demands of job posts for talent.
Through signing cooperation agreements with various universities, Huawei can empower these institutions. Specifically, this includes establishing and improving curriculum systems, developing training materials, providing faculty training, building standard laboratories, and so on.
Not long ago, during Huawei Connect 2026, they held the Huawei ICT Academy Annual Conference, officially established the Smart Innovation Working Group of the ICT Talent Development Committee, and awarded plaques to the first batch of members.
The Smart Innovation Working Group will focus on areas such as ICT curriculum construction, ecosystem building, talent cultivation, and innovation and entrepreneurship, providing universities with more professional and standardized guidance and technical support, and promoting the talent cultivation for the domestic computing power ecosystem from single-point exploration to standardized and large-scale implementation.
This means that university-enterprise cooperation is moving further from "enterprises providing resources and universities organizing teaching" to jointly researching talent cultivation standards, jointly promoting curriculum reform, and jointly building the industrial ecosystem.
For computing talent cultivation, this institutionalized collaboration is especially critical because computing power platforms, basic software, and AI technologies are updating rapidly, making it difficult for a single university to independently complete the continuous update of curricula, faculty, and practical systems.
Meanwhile, the annual conference also released 14 CANN-related courses, further enriching the talent cultivation content oriented towards domestic computing power and AI.
Unlike past training that mainly focused on the introduction of single technologies, these courses pay more attention to the connection between computer systems, computing power architecture, basic software, AI development, and engineering practice, helping universities gradually establish a curriculum system oriented towards the domestic computing power ecosystem.
From one core course to 14 related courses, what has changed is not just the number of courses, but also the shift of computing talent cultivation from fragmented knowledge transmission to systematic capability cultivation. While learning basic theories, students can access real development tools, experimental environments, and application scenarios, gradually forming a complete capability chain from understanding principles and writing programs to debugging, optimization, deployment, and application.
This effectively solves the pain points of universities, such as scarce curriculum resources, lagging faculty knowledge, and lack of practical environments. Universities are enabled to access the most cutting-edge ICT technologies and industry dynamics, timely adjusting and optimizing teaching content to ensure that what students learn is closely aligned with market demands.
Facing the current development of the computing industry, university-enterprise cooperation needs to further extend to computing power and basic software. Enterprises should not only provide courses and faculty but also bring real development environments, experimental resources, engineering cases, and industry standards into universities, allowing students the opportunity to access domestic computing power platforms, basic software toolchains, and real application scenarios during their learning stage. Only by integrating "curriculum—experiment—project—competition—employment" can knowledge truly be transformed into engineering capabilities.
On a deeper level, this cooperation model also promotes the transformation of the educational ecosystem.
Universities are no longer confined to the role of knowledge transmitters but have become nodes in the industrial innovation chain. Through in-depth university-enterprise cooperation, universities can intervene in cutting-edge technology research in advance, transform scientific research achievements into teaching resources, and form a virtuous cycle of "technology driving education—education feeding back into technology".
In addition to cooperative education, Huawei has also launched the Huawei ICT Competition. Through the form of professional competitions, it stimulates young people's interest and enthusiasm for ICT technologies and enhances their theoretical knowledge, practical capabilities, and innovative thinking.
In the AI era, the role of competitions also needs further upgrading. The Huawei ICT Competition should not merely test how much knowledge students have mastered, but should also serve as a crucial platform for training students to solve complex computing problems, carry out team collaboration, and complete engineering delivery. This annual conference launched the 11th Huawei ICT Competition and further focused on cutting-edge directions such as CANN computing power development, reflecting the extension of the competition from "promoting learning through competition" to "promoting learning, innovation, and employment through competition".
The Huawei ICT Competition was launched in 2015 and has been held for 10 sessions to date, becoming a global event that attracts university students from all over the world. According to official data, over the years, it has attracted over 960,000 students from more than 2,000 universities in over 100 countries and regions worldwide to register and participate.
This Huawei ICT Academy Annual Conference also officially announced the launch of the 11th Huawei ICT Competition.
The Huawei ICT Competition is a public welfare competition in the ICT field. Its purpose is to "promote training, learning, and application through competition". By building a high-level competitive platform, it promotes the cultivation, growth, and employment of ICT talent in universities.
Facts have proven that the competition has indeed achieved excellent results in talent cultivation. Through this competition, college students have improved their ICT theoretical knowledge level and practical hands-on abilities, especially their ability to apply cutting-edge technologies. Their independent learning capabilities and team collaboration skills have also been greatly exercised.
In addition, the Huawei ICT Competition has promoted exchange and cooperation between universities, as well as between universities and the industry, propelled the popularization and promotion of ICT technologies, and not only fostered ecosystem prosperity but also injected new vitality into industry development.
█ Classic Cases of University-Enterprise Cooperation, Setting a Benchmark for Industry-Education Integration
Next, let us look at the specific results of university-enterprise cooperation at the Huawei ICT Academy through several cooperation cases.
First, let us look at the industry-education integration cooperation between Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Huawei.
In 2017, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Huawei signed an agreement to establish the "Huawei ICT Academy Innovative Talent Center". Over the years, both parties have adopted the university-enterprise cooperation model of "Course-Competition-Innovation" (Curriculum Integration-Competition Practice-Innovation and Entrepreneurship), integrating cutting-edge technology courses into the professional teaching system and cultivating batch after batch of new composite talents.
Targeting cutting-edge technology fields such as IoT (Internet of Things), AI, and HarmonyOS, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, in conjunction with Huawei, has launched over ten innovative training camp courses, including "IoT LiteOS+NB-IoT: From Basics to Advanced", IoT Engineering Practice, Huawei Autonomous Driving Simulation Training Camp, and Huawei Cloud ModelArts Technology Open Course, which have received widespread praise from students.
Distinct from traditional theoretical teaching, the courses in the Huawei Innovation Training Camp combine basic theoretical knowledge and adopt project-based programming practices, guiding the course content towards a teaching mode focused on the development and design of actual application solutions. This has significantly enhanced students' practical abilities, enabling them to complete project development after class and conduct evaluations, defenses, examinations, and competition participation.
Shanghai Jiao Tong University has participated in the Huawei ICT Competition for many consecutive years and has won the championship of the Global Finals Innovation Competition multiple times.
Now let us look at a case of a vocational college.
Around 2020, Chongqing Electronic Engineering Vocational College (hereinafter referred to as CQEE) deeply cooperated with Huawei to continuously carry out industry-education-science integration.
Focusing on 5G technology and applications, both parties have built a complete curriculum system from basic theories to cutting-edge technologies. CQEE invested CNY 15 million to build the first fully commercial 5G network among national universities, encompassing three network levels: radio access, transport bearer, and cloudified core, serving as a platform for top-tier talent cultivation and scientific research innovation. This platform has laid a solid foundation for CQEE to carry out practical engineering project teaching in 5G network planning, deployment, maintenance, and optimization.
During the cooperation with Huawei, CQEE proposed an innovative "Three Co's and Three Sharings" university-enterprise collaborative education model: co-investment, co-construction, and co-management; resource sharing, achievement sharing, and talent sharing. Particularly in the cultivation of 5G talent, CQEE established the Huawei "Wireless Elite" Excellent Talent Class and the Huawei "5G+X" Innovative Craftsman Workshop, building a "Three Verticals and Four Horizontals" 5G elite talent cultivation system.
Currently, these initiatives by CQEE have achieved good results. Students have performed excellently in various competitions, successively winning 2 national-level awards and 5 provincial/ministerial-level awards in the 5G Base Station Competition, as well as 2 national first prizes, and 1 global first prize, second prize, and third prize each in the Huawei ICT Competition.
The cooperation model between CQEE and Huawei has been highly recognized by the industry, and the cooperation case was rated as an excellent case of the World Vocational Education Conference and a typical case of the "Double Hundred Plan" for University-Enterprise Cooperation by the China Association of Higher Education.
The above is a microcosm of the university-enterprise cooperation projects of the Huawei ICT Academy. According to data, as of 2025, the Huawei ICT Academy project has cumulatively covered more than 110 countries and regions, cooperated with over 800 domestic universities (and more than 3,000 globally), empowered over 4,200 teachers, and cultivated more than 500,000 students.
█ Conclusion
Tang Xiaoguang, Director of Huawei's Strategy and Business Development Department, previously stated:
"Looking to the future, the ICT Academy will focus closely on the three root ecosystems of Kunpeng, Ascend, and HarmonyOS. We will build an intelligent learning platform centered on digital textbook real cases and simulation experiments. Then, through new courses, high-level competitions, and practical training environments simulating real combat, we will create a cultivation system that can enhance comprehensive capabilities. Students here can access the most cutting-edge things and obtain all-around practical experience. In the next five years, we will accelerate development to cultivate another million computing talents and HarmonyOS talents."
Moving from ICT talent to computing talent is not simply changing a title, but an upgrade of talent cultivation goals, curriculum systems, practical environments, and evaluation methods. Facing the AI era, universities and enterprises need to jointly cultivate talents who can understand computing, master systems, solve real problems, and continuously innovate.
This is also the important meaning of "consolidating the independent foundation of the industry" emphasized at this Huawei ICT Academy Annual Conference: industrial independence requires not only technology and products but also a matching talent foundation.
Through innovative forms such as the ICT Academy and the ICT Competition, Huawei has forged a new path for talent cultivation. Their practice shows that when enterprises become active participants in talent cultivation, the talent ecosystem of the entire industry will be significantly improved, providing strong support for the sustainable and healthy development of the industry.
We look forward to seeing more enterprises and universities joining such cooperation, cultivating more high-quality talents that meet market demands, promoting technological innovation and industrial upgrading across the entire society, and ushering in a new chapter in the digital and intelligent era!