Smart technology will help in Covid recovery, says Huawei

Global tech powerhouse Huawei says cutting-edge technology and intelligent digital infrastructure are key to helping Thailand and the world address challenges and recover from the pandemic.

“Covid-19 closed many doors, but innovation opened new windows of hope,” said Abel Deng, chief executive of Huawei Technologies (Thailand), at “Resilient Thailand: Ways to Bounce Back”, a virtual event hosted by the Bangkok Post yesterday.

He gave examples of tools considered novel 10 years ago, such as the mobile internet, cloud computing, big data. But now, they have become essential components in reshaping our society.

By 2030, Huawei envisages that communications networks will go beyond connecting people to connecting billions of things. Such networks will also be artificial intelligence (AI)-native and low-carbon.

“Users will be connected to multilevel computing resources, with 1-millisecond latency in cities, 10-millisecond latency in city clusters, and 100-millisecond latency over backbone networks,” he said.

Mr Deng also revealed findings from Huawei’s recently published Intelligent World 2030 White Paper. The report set out eight ambitious technology trends and directions over the next decade in healthcare, food, living spaces, transport, smart cities, enterprises, green energy, and digital trust.

Huawei aims to make healthcare computable by using the Internet of Things (IoT) and AI starting with healthcare.

People will then be able to identify potential health problems and shift the focus from treatment to prevention.

Building more resilient and sustainable food systems is also high on the agenda. Huawei envisages the world with data-driven food production and vertical farms, which are not affected by climate change.

Mr Deng went so far as to say that “3D printing will make it possible for people to create artificial meat so we can even turn data into green food for all of us”.

For future living spaces, Huawei said homes and offices would become zero carbon buildings with adaptive environments.

When looking at developments in transport, Huawei expects strong growth in intelligent vehicles and predicts autonomous vehicles will make up 20% of the Chinese market by 2030.

Transforming energy structures is also key to tackling climate change.

Huawei foresees that by 2030, solar and wind will be primary energy sources.