Technology should be used for sustainable growth, Huawei tells MWC

A guest takes a photo of AI content at a special forum at this year's WMC. Xinhua

At last year's Mobile World Congress (MWC), Huawei Technologies Co. stole the show at the world's biggest trade show for the mobile industry by having the most prominent presence.

The Shenzhen-based smartphone and network equipment maker expanded its footprint by 50% from a year ago and took up almost an entire vast exhibition hall at Barcelona's Fira convention center. Huawei once again proved thatit's a force to be reckoned withdespite the fact that Western sanctions had crippled parts of its business.

Huawei's supersized presence at the 2023 show "is a sign of defiance," John Strand, a Danish telecom industry consultant, told the Associated Press. The company's message, he said, is: "Despite the American sanctions, we are alive and kicking and doing so well."

At last year's MWC, Huawei pivoted away from smartphones toward cloud technology and other business solutions during the four-day congress, showing how it's securing its future through diversification.

At this year's MWC, which concluded in Barcelona, Spainon Thursday, Huawei, which has gained wide attention over the past year for its technological advancements in high-performance chips, smart automobile solutions,and premium smartphones, wanted to deliver a message to the world that it is committed to using its technology to drive the sustainable and inclusive development of human society. 

The arrival of ChatGPT, a generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbotdeveloped by San Francisco-based OpenAI, has made AI one of the major topicsin the tech world. AI was center stage at this year's MWC, with signage featuring "AI" and "intelligence" filling the venue.

At the event, Huawei launched the Huawei Telecom Foundation Model, its self-developed AI model specifically for telecom service providers. The model allows telecom operators to provide more intelligent business solutions to consumers and firms, and supports carriers more efficiently using their network resources. It can also help telecom service providers improve operations and maintenance efficiency.

The model was built on Huawei's self-trained Pangu AI model, which was released last year, focusing on industrial uses in sectors including coal mining, finance, and government.

Huawei is teaming up with global partners in Europe and the Middle Eastfor its telecom AI model, Song Xiaodi, chief marketing officer of Huawei's carrier business group, said during the MWC.

At a Huawei-hosted roundtable discussion, executives from the Shenzhen-based tech heavyweight shared with industry partners and opinion leadershow to use industrial intelligence to promote sustainable development.

Yu Liang, vice-president of Huawei Cloud Global Ecosystem for the Europe, Middle East, and Central Asia region,showed how the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecastshas used Pangu-Weather Model, an AI model for global weather forecasting,to achieve more precision, with faster prediction speeds, which can help reduce the disruptive impacts of natural disasters, such as typhoons.

U.K. expertshave used Huawei's AI technologies to help assess and monitor the population of the red squirrel, an endangered species in the country, according to Yu.

At a meeting also hosted by Huawei on how to use green information and communications technologies to support low-carbon urban development, nature reserves, and bridge the digital divide, Zhou Jun, president of ICT marketing at Huawei, showed how a Huawei action plan, the TECH4ALL digital inclusion initiative, has allowed diverse projects to improve education, health, environment, and development. 

The TECH4ALL program and non-profit organization International Union for Conservation of Naturejoined hands to launch the Tech4Nature partnership in 2020, which guides protected areas worldwide on the appropriate use of technology and supports them with digital solutions.The initial phase of the Tech4Naturehas projects in Mauritius, Mexico, Spain, China, and Switzerland, with technologies, for example, used to help protect the Bonelli's eaglein Spain, a species whose population is in decline primarily due to human activities.

"As a technology company, Huawei is committed to using technology to make the world a better place," Zhou said.