Chinese telecom giant pledges placing tech at Pakistan’s Covid-19 fight forefront

With over two million people under the radar of the coronavirus outbreak, the pandemic has accelerated global collaboration, partnership, and the cross-pollination of ideas.

Governments health authorities across the world have been working together to find solutions to the Covid-19 pandemic while information and communication technologies (ICT) are contributing their part in this fight by crafting necessary tools with the view to protect public health and realise socio-economic stability.

Pakistan and China are taking this cooperation to new heights, setting up joint prevention controlled mechanism on Covid-19 pandemic to strengthen coordination and exchanges.

In this spirit of collaboration, Chinese tech giant Huawei announced that it was committed to providing “smooth” and “reliable” connection in Pakistan.

“We have worked with our customers and partners effortlessly over the last few months to make sure we provide smooth and reliable network connection in Pakistan,” said Mark Meng, CEO of Huawei Pakistan, in a press statement.

“We’ve identified some of the most important technologies that will play a role in this fight against Covid-19,” he added.

Elaborating smarter collaboration tools, he said new applications of artificial intelligence (AI) were, for example, being used to aid scientists and medical experts who are searching for a vaccine and treatments.

“At Huawei, we are focused on innovations in technology, engineering, products, and solutions to address customer needs,” said Meng, pledging to bring digital applications to every person, home and organisation for a fully connected, intelligent world.

“We have more than 194,000 employees, and we operate in more than 170 countries and regions, serving more than three billion people around the world.”

On 5G -- the fifth generation of network technology in which Huawei leads the world – the CEO said, “The potential future rollout of 5G connectivity will help improve network capacity and support even more robust tools in the fight against COVID-19.”

“By 2025, 5G will serve 58% of the global population, and it will combine with technologies like 4K and higher definition video, VR/AR, AI, and cloud to transform our personal lives, homes, and industries in ways we have never imagined.”

He said the Pakistani government’s had adopted a smart lockdown policy, collaborating with leading ICT solution providers to ensure people have access to a smooth and reliable network connection that keeps them connected in this critical time. “That open and cooperative ecosystem is the absolute foundation for addressing Covid -19 challenges.”

“The fight against COVID-19 thus requires the sharing of expertise like never before, particularly in the technology field. That exchange can be seen in collaborations like those between the Ministry of National Health Services and Huawei to deploy a new video conferencing system that can be applied for epidemic prevention and control command, remote consultation, and remote monitoring.”

He said Pakistan’s ICT community could better design systems that communities and businesses need to tackle the emergency together.

“5G will also allow industries like manufacturing, electricity, transportation, finance, and many others to go digital, embrace artificial intelligence, and deliver new value for their customers,” said Meng.