Huawei: We Love Europe And Plan To Keep It That Way
Chinese giant reveals scope of co-operation with companies across the continent, as well as its view of the connected future
Huawei says it plans to keep Europe as one of its central markets for innovation, research and development.
Speaking at its annual ‘Innovation Day’ in Munich, the Chinese giant discussed its co-operation network, which includes some of the biggest mobile and telecoms firms across Europe, and its latest developments and partnerships.
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“Huawei can help Europe accelerate digitisation in the areas of equipment, infrastructure, and applications, and we are working closely with customers, partners, and research institutes to drive progress,” the company’s chief strategy marketing officer, William Xu, told attendees including TechWeekEurope.
This all comes together to form what Huawei calls ‘Industry 4.0’ – a combined, unified view of future working which combines equipment such as a single unified IoT platform, 5G networks and Huawei’s own LiteOS IoT ecosystem, all of which come together to create a faster.
“Huawei is an ideal partner for Europe for Industry 4.0,” said Xu, “For a long time, we have considered it a key centre for innovation.”
Huawei has now had a presence in Europe for 15 years and has set up 19 ‘joint innovation centres’ and 18 R&D facilities employing 1,200 workers across eight countries. These centres focus on wireless networks, microwave, microchips, engineering, mathematics, aesthetic design, and other areas.
Overall, Xu said Huawei is also working closely with more than 700 partners in Europe, and has established partnerships with more than 120 academic institutions.
In the UK, Huawei claims it has made a contribution of £956 million to the UK’s GDP over the past three years and that it supports 7,400 jobs directly and through its supply chain. The firm is currently in the middle of a five-year investment programme, which has seen it open new R&D centres, helped rollout 4G and fixed broadand networks and work on the development of 5G.
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