The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) and the Chinese company Huawei have collaborated in a bid to advance cyber security skills in the East African country.
Director-General of the CA, Ezra Chiloba, revealed this in the country’s capital, Nairobi. He said the three-day intensive training session scheduled to hold between Oct. 17-19 is one of the activities of the month-long celebrations to commemorate national cyber security awareness month marked every October.
He emphasised that cyber security is crucial as the future of Kenya’s economy would be larger driven by digital technology.
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Kenya and Huawei Cybersecurity Training
According to CA’s DG, “We are working with Huawei, who are bringing on board their expansive experience in this sector, and I want to encourage young people who are undertaking courses and are looking forward to participating in the digital economy to invest their time and resources in understanding the future of cyber security.”
He announced that the telecom industry regulator and Huawei would together establish a special cyber security boot camp for students attending institutions of higher learning across the country.
Chiloba added, “The boot camp has attracted more than 1,700 university students across the country. The partnership targets to build capacity amongst technology students to ensure secure networks and cyberspace.”
Official data show that Kenya has nearly 2,000 certified cybersecurity experts, revealing a shortage in the annual demand of 10,000 professionals.
He observed that the boot camp includes a Huawei certification e-learning course on cyber security, virtual lab exercises, on-site training, and mentorship from experts within the field.
“These jointly structured sessions and courses are geared at preparing participants for a successful career in cybersecurity,” Chiloba said.
On his part, the CEO of Huawei Kenya, Will Meng, said that in the last 20 years, the company had supported the building of secure networks across Kenya, which has shown their contribution to the economic growth of the East African nation.
According to Will, “We are pleased to work with the CA to provide training to students to enhance their capacity to operate networks and systems securely and to be safe online.”
The training session also comes on the heels of the launch of the novel National Cybersecurity Strategy 2022 by the National Computer and Cybercrimes Coordination Committee (NC4). A major objective of the strategy is to boost national cyber security capacity and create more local specialized professionals.
The training will include a Huawei Certification e-learning course on cyber security, on-site classes, virtual lab exercises, and mentorship from professionals within the sector.
These sessions and courses are facilitated to prepare participants for a career in cybersecurity, and developing an initiative is also one of the activities under the Technical Cooperation Agreement signed by CA and Huawei earlier in the year.
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About Communications Authority of Kenya
The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) is the regulatory authority for the communications sector in the East African country. It was set up in 1999 by the Kenya Information and Communications Act of 1998.
The government regulator is responsible for facilitating the development of the information and communications sectors, including; broadcasting, cybersecurity, multimedia, telecommunications, electronic commerce, postal and courier services.
CA has multiple functions that cut across licensing all systems and services in the communications industry, managing the country’s frequency spectrum and numbering resources, amongst many other duties.
About Huawei
Huawei is a global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices.
With a presence in 70 countries and regions, the company facilitates ubiquitous digital connectivity and promotes equal access to networks to lay the foundation for the intelligent populace.
Huawei also provides diversified computing power to deliver ubiquitous cloud and intelligence; creates powerful digital platforms to assist all industries and organizations become more agile, efficient, and dynamic; redefine user experience with AI, offering consumers a more personalized and intelligent experience across all human endeavours.