SHENZHEN, China, June 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Closing & Awards Ceremony of the 10th Huawei ICT Competition Global Final was held today in Shenzhen. This year's competition attracted more than 220,000 university students and faculty members from over 2,000 institutions across more than 100 countries and regions, making it the largest edition in its history. Following national and regional rounds, 177 teams from 49 countries and regions advanced to the Global Final and received awards.

At the Closing & Awards Ceremony, Ritchie (Honghua) Peng, President of Huawei ICT Strategy & Business Development Department, said the competition reflects the company's long-standing commitment to using technology for good and for sustainable social and environmental development. Peng added that the Innovation Competition demonstrated the value of learning through competition as a tool to address real-world challenges, and that participants in the Practice and Programming Competitions stood out for their dedication, curiosity, and deep technical focus. He also announced the introduction of a new Ascend AI Operator Development Track in the Chinese mainland for the next edition. The track is designed to help young developers engage more directly with cutting-edge industry technologies through task-based challenges.

Dr. Shafika Isaacs, Director a.i. of UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education and Chief of Section for Technology and AI in Education, praised the partnership between UNESCO and Huawei and commended the participants for their performance. She highlighted that the future of AI requires collaboration among governments, international organizations, academia, and industry. She also noted that UNESCO and Huawei have been working together through initiatives such as AI capacity building programs in Arab countries and ICT education partnership programs in Central Asia and the Caucasus. These efforts aim to strengthen higher education and vocational training systems and develop future-ready talent. She said students in this year's Huawei ICT Competition demonstrated their ability to tackle real-world challenges across cultural boundaries by applying emerging technologies – showing not only creativity but also a responsible approach to technology that embodies the purpose of education.

This year marked the 10th edition of the Huawei ICT Competition. After the Practice, Innovation, and Programming Competitions, 18 outstanding teams from eight countries were awarded the Grand Prize:

• Practice Competition—Network Track Grand Prize: Algerian team, Brazilian team, Nigerian team, and Shenzhen Polytechnic University
• Practice Competition—Cloud Track Grand Prize: Egyptian team, Algerian team, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, and Kenyan team
• Practice Competition—Computing Track Grand Prize: Egyptian team, Henan Institute of Economics and Trade, Dominican Republic team, and Algerian team
• Practice Competition—Ascend AI Track Grand Prize: Shenzhen Polytechnic University
• Innovation Competition Grand Prize: Wuhan University of Technology, Ahmadu Bello University, National University of Singapore, and Fujian Normal University
• Programming Competition Grand Prize: Wuhan Vocational College of Software and Engineering

Special awards were also presented during the ceremony. The Women in Tech Award went to seven all-female teams from Azerbaijan, Nigeria, Kenya, China, and Bahrain; while the Green Development Award was won by two teams from Ghana and China. Ten students from China received Fast Passes to the Huawei Future Business Leader Track. The Most Valuable Instructor Award was conferred on 16 exceptional instructors from nine countries and regions, including Pakistan, China, Nigeria, Egypt, UAE, Brazil, Thailand, Türkiye. Six teams from Egypt, Brazil, Malaysia, Poland, Pakistan earned the ICT Competition Online Popularity Award.

During the Global Final, Huawei also hosted the AI Accelerating Education Transformation Summit, where it launched the ICT Academy AI Course Solution and released the ICT Skills Development Insight Report with Recommendations for Nine Countries of Central Asia & the Caucasus.

As demand for talent in AI, computing, big data, and cybersecurity continues to grow, the Huawei ICT Competition provides students with an international platform to develop practical skills, solve real-world challenges, and prepare for the digital economy through industry-academia collaboration and shared educational resources.