TORONTO – While questions over security continue to swirl around its global operations, Huawei Canada announced three new commitments that it says will help to bring the next generation 5G mobile network to Canada.
At a product event dubbed Digital Transformation Forum held at Tuesday Huawei Canada headquarters in Markham, the company pledged to:
– provide Information and Communications Technology training to over 1,000 Canadians by 2020 under the Huawei Authorized Learning Partner (HALP) program and other similar initiatives implemented across Canada;
– release its first 5G-ready smartphone for the Canadian market, which will be interoperable between 4G and 5G networks, late this year; and
– donate $100,000 towards Ottawa flood relief in partnership with United Way Ottawa. Huawei employees in Ottawa also have the option of taking paid days off in order to volunteer for flood relief and cleanup efforts.
The company also showed off new Internet of Things (IoT) applications for monitoring crops, devices that track and monitor health signs like temperature and heartbeat, wireless VR experiences that connect to the cloud, and the next generation of the Wi-Fi standard, WiFi 6, that will support 5G technologies.
Olivera Zatezalo, chief security officer for Huawei Canada, said that the company spends 5% of its R&D budget every year on cyber security.
“This is a crucial company strategy and demonstrates Huawei's commitment to expanding and refining a robust compliance system to ensure we abide by all applicable laws and regulations in Canada”, she said in a statement. “Huawei has a clean 30-year record in cyber security globally, and we have built – and will continue to invest in – end-to-end global cyber security assurance systems. We have been in Canada since 2008, and have been working with Canadian government and carriers to introduce a comprehensive security review program."
