The Middle East and Central Asia are facing a deepening shortage of information and communications technology (ICT) skills, even as governments across the region accelerate investments in digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence, and cloud-enabled public services. According to Gulf Business, the Middle East and Africa region alone is expected to face a shortfall of nearly four million ICT jobs, positioning it among the fastest-growing regions globally for digital skills gaps.
As economies pursue long-term diversification strategies, the demand for digitally skilled talent is outpacing the ability of traditional education systems to adapt. Dr. Mazen Ali, Dean of the College of Information Technology at the University of Bahrain, said that AI literacy is no longer optional but foundational. He noted that future roles across nearly all sectors will interact with AI systems through data platforms, intelligent tools, or automated workflows, making AI fluency a baseline requirement for the modern workforce.
A global whitepaper developed by Huawei in collaboration with IDC highlights the structural roots of the problem. While technical knowledge in ICT evolves every 18 to 24 months, university degree programmes often take five to seven years to update. Nearly half of surveyed organisations worldwide reported that academic curricula do not fully align with real-world industry needs. Dr. Ali warned that technologies central to industry practice today can become obsolete within just a few years if education systems fail to adapt.
Huawei’s ICT Academy has emerged as a key bridge between academia and industry, addressing this mismatch through direct collaboration with universities. In the Middle East and Central Asia, Huawei has partnered with more than 330 academic institutions, reaching over 500,000 students. Globally, the programme spans more than 110 countries and has trained over 1.3 million learners.
The University of Bahrain, which joined the Huawei ICT Academy in 2016, has leveraged the partnership to modernise its IT curriculum, integrate hands-on laboratories, and expose students to industry-standard technologies. Through initiatives such as certification tracks, hackathons, and the Huawei ICT Competition, students are encouraged to apply theoretical knowledge to real-world technical challenges.
The Huawei–IDC whitepaper identifies cybersecurity, AI application development, and cloud technologies as the most urgently needed skills over the next 18 months. More than 65 percent of enterprises surveyed globally reported that digital transformation initiatives have been delayed due to skills shortages. The study also highlights that AI is reshaping existing roles across every ICT domain, further intensifying the need for continuous reskilling.
In addition to student training, Huawei’s ICT Academy places strong emphasis on faculty development, certifying thousands of lecturers worldwide to ensure teaching remains aligned with industry trends. In late 2024, Huawei also launched the T.H.E. GOLD Talent programme in collaboration with UNESCO’s Institute for Information Technologies in Education, aiming to develop up to one million digital talents across the Middle East and Central Asia over the next decade.
Dr. Ali concluded that without co-creation between universities and leading technology partners, education systems will struggle to keep pace with rapid technological change, limiting the region’s ability to fully capitalise on its digital transformation ambitions.
