No data, no digital transformation – Huawei

Huawei Cloud Global Marketing and Sales Service President, Jacqueline Shi, told attendees at the Huawei Cloud Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, that artificial intelligence (AI) will be the key driver for digital transformation in South Africa over the next decade.

"If we want to get real value from AI, we need to get trusted data - no data, no AI and no digital transformation," Shi said during a panel discussion at the Summit.

Juanita Clark, CEO of Digital Council Africa, added that if South Africa is going to transform digitally, both the private sector and the government must be involved.

"Unless we are digitally matured, we cannot harness the power of the Internet," Clark highlighted.

Alfred Mmoto, the Acting Deputy Director General for ICT Policy and Strategy Development at South Africa's Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT), said South Africa cannot speak about digital transformation, without connectivity.

"As we visualize and digitally transform South Africa, driven by the robust and inclusive digital economy, we as government also recognize our responsibility to create an enabling policy and regulatory environment," Mmoto explained.

"We have to create a digital environment that inspires everyone to not only invest but participate in our digital economy," he added.

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Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa, CEO of Naspers South Africa, said that collaboration between the government and the private sector will ensure that young people are digitally enabled.  

Infrastructure development is key, we need to continuously see more investment in infrastructure development so that we can ensure that in the same way that a child sitting in Sandton or Midrand can have access to a computer and the Internet; a child sitting in the rural areas also has the same access," she reflected.

She said access is critical to ensure that South Africa is digitally enabled.

SA's digital transformation

During the Summit, Huawei committed to speeding up the digital transformation of local industries over the next five years.

This initiative aims to support the implementation of South Africa's National Digital and Cloud Policy, thereby fostering the growth of the country’s digital economy.

"Huawei Cloud is committed to building a digital South Africa with social equality, cultural diversity, and economic prosperity. We strive to build a new intelligent foundation through continuous technological innovation," Shi explained.

From left: DCDT's Alfred Mmoto, eNCA's John Bailey, Huawei's Jacqueline Shi, Naspers' Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa, and Digital Council Africa's Juanita Clark. (Source: Matshepo Sehloho)

Nonkqubela Jordan-Dyani, Director-General of the DCDT shared Shi's sentiments citing that the South African government aims to create an enabling environment for all sectors to grow the digital economy.

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"Our priority remains driving the digital transformation process. This will enable inclusive growth and job creation. We also want to reduce poverty and address essential services like healthcare, education, security and e-government," Jordan-Dyani weighed in.

According to Shi, Huawei Cloud has grown fast over the past five years and the company plans to launch more cloud solutions to expand market share and boost revenue.

"Huawei Cloud has served more than 1,000 customers from the government, financial services, education, and telecoms sectors as well as some media and e-commerce companies," she added.

"With this kind of strong support from different customers, our cloud business in South Africa has increased more than 16 times over the past five years," Shi explained.