Huawei's wide-range actions

Huawei is constantly competing for various contracts in the technology sector. What difference does it make to Poles whether a contract is won by Huawei or a competitor? The point is to ensure the right price, good technology, safety and reliability.

We do our best to win contracts and tenders in all market segments in which we boast the best, innovative technology. With every project we challenge the market, since this is our company's DNA. Huawei is recognised in Poland mainly for its telecommunications and IT equipment, but we also offer a number of innovations and investments in the field of green energy, such as our inverters, which are one of the best in the world. These are devices that accumulate solar energy and allow to convert it into electricity, both for individual customers and enterprises. In addition, we design and manufacture batteries that allow energy storage and subsequent use, for example at night. We are also expanding our investments in the automotive sector, acting as a multinational corporations' supplier of electric propulsion, charging, communications, cloud and AI system components. We continue to expand our field of operation and make every effort to support the digital and energy transformation in Poland.

So you are withdrawing from the current technological battlefield in favour of new solutions? What is the company's strategy?

Huawei is a unique company for a number of reasons. No other company can boast such a wide range of operations in different market segments. For example, in the telecommunications sector, we are competing with companies that have nothing to do with inverters. Similarly, in the sector of autonomous vehicle components, our rivals are not operating in other areas. This is an extremely wide field of business activity. We have been operating in Poland for over 17 years and we also invest a lot in such aspects as sustainable development, social inclusion and environmental protection.

What do you do to support social inclusion?

We support and organise a number of activities and initiatives related to corporate social responsibility. This includes popularisation of Polish culture. We are a partner for technology of the National Museum in Warsaw. During the lockdown, we helped to organise a magnificent 3D scanned exhibition of Polish history in painting which was available on the Internet. In addition, we invest in start-ups. Of course, we do not create or buy them ourselves. Instead, we organise a competition for them. 250 start-ups took part in this year's edition. The topic was combating exclusion through technology. We also support women in technology, as there as still too few of them in that sector. We work with a number of universities of technology in Poland. We act as a partner in the Perspektywy Foundation ranking. There are a lot of examples.

And what do you do in the area of environmental protection?

We are shifting the focus to green energy. It is also digital energy for us. All our devices cooperate with one another, they are connected to the internet and AI. They all analyse energy requirements and optimise power consumption on an ongoing basis. Our laboratories are equipped with enire PV farms. Wherever possible, we opt for raw materials that can be reused or are biodegradable. Our company has saved so far over 300 million kWh. In practical terms this would be equal to 200 million planted trees.

The devices you are talking about are mostly created abroad, and represent foreign technological thought. Is Huawei's presence in Poland strong enough to inspire Polish scientific centres to design new inventions for you?

We cooperate with many public and private universities in Poland in various fields, both in the area artificial intelligence and student education. We have funded an AI laboratory at the Warsaw University of Technology, which we have equipped with the world's fastest cluster for artificial intelligence research. Students and professors can use it to write algorithms and check them. We have also been cooperating with the Poznań University of Technology for many years. In addition, we have signed agreements with the University of Łódź and the AGH University of Science and Technology. Polish universities also have access to our “ICT Academy” Certified Training Programmes. It has been organised for several years now. It allows students to take part in remote training, and then take an exam to obtain a certificate, which will later be a great advantage in their professional career. This year we are organising the eighth edition of “Seeds for the Future” programme with several universities. Students are invited to write a paper on the topic of high-tech. The papers are evaluated by a jury, which selects several dozen people to take part in a two-week workshop, during which our experts present our products, talk about Chinese culture and help students get an idea of what working in a real business is all about.

What is the future of Huawei in Poland?