Huawei and its partners have won two prestigious awards for cases demonstrating practical applications of AI in industry. First, during the recent AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva on May 30-31, the International Communication Union (ITU) gave an award to Huawei and Hunan Valin Xiangtan Iron and Steel’s for their use case of the Huawei Pangu AI Model in the steel industry. Secondly, the World Summit on the Information Society, an ITU event held on May 30 in Geneva, awarded an Excellence Certificate to Huawei and Saudi Telecom Company for their “SmartTruck” project, a mobile classroom that offers digital training to seniors.
Award for use of AI in the steel industry
The first award was selected among submissions called by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to populate a repository of AI-driven solutions for sustainable development. The pilot release was announced at the recent AI for Good Global Summit, the leading United Nations platform for dialogue on sustainable AI development, in Geneva, Switzerland. The use of Pangu AI Model in the steel industry stood out among hundreds of submissions.
Tomas Lamanauskas, Deputy Secretary-General of ITU, said the winning use cases exhibited clarity, Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) alignment, AI’s impact on SDGs and adherence to ITU scope.
Li Jianyu, Chairman of the Board of Hunan Steel Group, called the Pangu Model for the steel industry an innovative practice that facilitates the application of AI to traditional industries like steel.
Cao Jibin, Senior Vice President of Huawei and President of the company’s China Region, said Huawei will continue to work with partners to carry out large-scale innovative application practices, and create AI applications through system architecture innovation.
These applications will thrive “in the three major areas of network infrastructure management, computing infrastructure, and data circulation infrastructure,” he added.
About 6,000 participants joined in person the ITU-organized AI for Good summit, which showcased innovations in generative AI, robotics, and brain-machine interfaces that can accelerate efforts to tackle worldwide challenges.
STC’s SmartTruck project wins at WSIS+20
The SmartTruck project of the Saudi Telecom Company, created in a partnership with Huawei, aims to bridge the digital divide for seniors by offering digital skills training programs. The project received an Excellence Certificate at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS+20) organized by the ITU on May 30.
So far, over 2,100 seniors in Saudi Arabia have benefited from 150 training sessions offered during phase one of the program. The project is run under Huawei’s TECH4ALL digital inclusion initiative, which endeavors to use technology to create a more inclusive and sustainable digital world.
Huawei announces challenges at AI for Good
Also at the AI for Good summit, Huawei announced two new competitions. One focuses on Machine Learning (ML) in large generative AI models in telecommunications. The other is on scheduling in energy management systems. Last year, Huawei had also announced challenges at the AI for Good Summit.
The ML competition on large generative AI models in telecommunications aims to pave the way for the development of next-generation telecom GPTs. It is a joint effort by Huawei, Technology Innovation Institute (UAE), Khalifa University, Large Generative AI Models in Telecom (GenAINet)-IEEE ComSoc Emerging Technology Initiative, AI for Good, and other key players.
The other competition aims to develop machine learning models that predict daily solar energy generation and create strategies to optimize the use of available energy sources. With the goal of minimizing costs and carbon emissions while ensuring network stability, the best solutions will be presented at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in November in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Collaboration in AI standardization key
ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin said a core action of the summit is the strengthening of “standards, cooperation and collaboration.”
While noting interoperability and security as necessities for responsible AI, Bogdan-Martin said the global community should also advance inclusivity, especially in developing countries.
“This global initiative will ensure the effective translation of AI governance principles into practical, actionable standards,” she said.
A two-hour roundtable on AI standards was held during the summit, where Bilel Jamoussi, Deputy to the Director and Chief of Telecommunication Standardization Policy Department, TSB, ITU, extended thanks to UN partners, government representatives, and members of the private sector, including Huawei.
“We all agreed… to continue the journey of standards collaboration and coordination for all of the AI standards,” he said.
Evan Xiao, Vice President of Huawei, said harmonized standards and the process of discussing standards have played a critical role.
Going forward, the collaboration between application scenarios and products and services, the integration with existing standards, as well as giving full consideration to the diversity of cross-cultural contexts are paramount in AI standardization efforts, Xiao said.
