Smart Nation Starts with Smart Villages and Talents
???? Hong-Eng Koh (高宏荣)
Public Services Digital Transformation Champion. Globetrotter. Storyteller. Foodie.
智慧国始于智慧村庄和人才
Muchila is a vibrant village of approximately 20,000 people located in the Southern Province of Zambia. As one of the 1,000+ villages in Zambia, Muchila is inhabited by various tribes, including the Tonga and Ndebele people. Tracing its history to centuries ago, this village mainly lives on agriculture, from growing maize, beans and sweet potatoes, as well as rearing livestock like cattle, goats and chickens.
Muchila是位于赞比亚南部省的一个充满活力的村庄，人口约2万人。作为赞比亚1000多个村庄之一，Muchila居住着各种部落，包括汤加人和恩德贝莱人。这个村庄的历史可以追溯至几个世纪前，主要以农业为生，种植玉米、豆类和红薯，以及饲养牛、山羊和鸡等牲畜。
Time very much stood still in Muchila which was off-grid for hundreds of years, with no proper electricity supply and connectivity, hindering sustainable economic and social development, leading to energy poverty and villagers migrating to urban areas. Villagers would even go up the hills to access mobile network services. It was difficult for the farmers to engage their customers outside the village. Being off-grid also means the impact from the recent droughts is even more severe for the villagers.
时间停留在离网数百年的Muchila，没有合适的电力供应和通讯，阻碍了经济社会的可持续发展，导致能源贫困和村民迁移到城市。村民们甚至会爬山寻找网络覆盖好的地点。农民也很难和村外的顾客做交易。离网还意味着最近干旱对村民的影响更加严重。
Another major impact is on education. In today’s fast-moving world, young villagers in Muchila are not getting their fair share of education, let alone quality education. Teachers are avoiding such off-grid villages, imagine the teachers having to walk to-and-fro 200km each month to collect their salaries. It is nearly impossible for the students to study after dark due to lack of electricity. Although having computer lessons are part of the national education curriculum, off-grid means such lessons were not effectively carried out.
另一个重大影响是针对教育。在当今快速发展的世界中，Muchila的年轻村民没有得到他们应得的教育，更不用说高质量的教育了。教师们避免去这样的离网村庄，想象一下教师们每个月必须来回步行200公里才能领到工资。由于缺电，学生们几乎不可能在天黑后学习。虽然上计算机课是国民教育课程的一部分，但离网意味着这类课程没有得到有效的实施。
Villagers who had toothaches simply suffered, mostly in silence. If it hurts badly enough, they would rinse their mouths out with diesel fuel or bleach, anything to try and stop the pain. Patients with more serious conditions must travel by foot or, if they are fortunate by bicycle, up to 50km one way to obtain clinical services. In Zambia, only 47% of births are attended by a skilled health worker and home delivery is close to 53% according to UNICEF. A woman in sub-Saharan Africa has a 1 in 16 chance of dying in pregnancy or childbirth, compared to a 1 in 4,000 risk in a developed country. Childbirth at night is aided by candles and phones to provide lighting.
那些牙疼的村民们，大多是默默忍受着。如果疼痛严重，他们会用柴油或漂白剂漱口，任何东西都能止住疼痛。病情更严重的患者必须步行或幸运的话骑自行车，单程最多50公里才能获得医疗服务。根据联合国儿童基金会的数据，在赞比亚，只有47%的分娩是由熟练的卫生工作者接生，在家分娩的比例接近53%。撒哈拉以南非洲地区的妇女在怀孕或分娩中死亡的几率为16分之一，而发达国家的几率为4000分之一。夜间分娩是由蜡烛和电话提供照明的辅助。
These are the dreadful situations in Muchila, nearly forgotten under the Smart Zambia vision, until now.
这些都是Muchila的落后情况，在“智慧赞比亚”愿景下几乎被遗忘，直到现在。
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The Birth of Smart Villages
智慧村庄的启动
I was very fortunate to be invited to support the visit by the President of Zambia, His Excellency Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, to Huawei HQ on 11 Sep 2023. I was tasked to brief the President on national digital transformation and possible initiatives that Huawei could work with Zambia.?
2023年9月11日我有幸收到邀请，一起在华为总部接待赞比亚总统Hakainde Hichilema先生，我的任务是向总统介绍国家数字化转型以及华为与赞比亚可能合作的领域。
I started the engagement on Zambia’s Vision 2030, and the President’s priority on “Socio-Economic Transformation for Improved Livelihoods”, leading to Smart Zambia and possible initiatives, such as Inclusive Connectivity, Education, Healthcare and Green Energy. I also spoke on the importance of ICT talents.
我开始就赞比亚2030年愿景和总统关于"社会经济转型，改善生计"的优先事项进行接触，牵引智慧赞比亚和可能的领域，如普惠互联、教育、医疗和绿色能源。我还谈到了ICT人才的重要性。
One area that the President was very interested in is our Smart Classroom solution for inclusive and quality education. He even stepped forward to experience the hybrid IdeaHub-blackboard solution. That left him a very deep impression.
总统非常感兴趣的一个领域是我们的智慧教室解决方案，用于包容性和高质量的教育。他甚至走上前体验了IdeaHub-黑板混合学习解决方案。这给他留下了非常深刻的印象。
Although Smart Village was not specifically mentioned on 11 Sep 2023, the visit led the President to initiate the Smart Villages project, and since then he has been saying “Smart Zambia Starts with Smart Villages”.
尽管2023年9月11日没有特别提到智慧村庄，但总统的访问促使他启动了智慧村庄项目，此后他一直在说"智慧赞比亚始于智慧村庄"。
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Muchila 智慧村庄
Muchila Smart Village
Huawei was given the approval by the Zambian Government to design and build the first Smart Village in Muchila. The project covers:
华为获得赞比亚政府得批准在Muchila设计和建设第一个智慧村庄。该项目包括：
Inclusive Connectivity: RuralStar base station providing 2G, 3G & 4G connectivity within a radius of 5km. The backhaul is connected to two telecom operators using microwave, and the operators’ towers are about 15km away. The entire RuralStar base station requires 1,000w of power, but it has its own solar panel and inverter providing 10,000w of power, and its own energy storage for 72 hours. This means the RuralStar is totally off-grid, additional power for expansion, and can operate without Sun for three days.
普惠互联：在5公里内提供2G、3G和4G连接的RuralStar基站。回程通过微波连接到两家运营商，它们的铁塔距离约15km。整个RuralStar基站需要1000w的电力，但它有自己的太阳能板和逆变器，提供10000w的电力，并有自己的能量储存72小时。这意味着，RuralStar完全脱离电网，为扩展提供额外的电力，并且可以在没有阳光的情况下运行三天。
Smart Classroom: Hybrid IdeaHub-blackboard with learning management solution (current demo version is on a partner’s cloud). It is connected to the internet through the RuralStar. The solution allows multi-classroom teaching and collaboration, remote learning, and of course, video conference.
智慧教室：IdeaHub-黑板混合学习与学习管理（LMS）解决方案（当前演示版本在合作伙伴的云上）。它通过RuralStar连接到互联网。该解决方案允许多教室教学和协作，远程学习，当然也可以视频会议。?
Connected Healthcare: Villagers can now have basic tele-consultation with doctors and nurses outside Muchila.
互联医疗：村民现在可以在Muchila以外与医生和护士进行基本的远程会诊。
Digital Power: A solar farm generating 54,000w of power, and it has a 30,000w energy storage system for 24 hours.
数字能源：一个太阳能农场可产生54000w的电力，它有一个30000w的能量储存系统，可以储存24小时。
Other benefits this Smart Village project bring to the villagers of Muchila include:
该智慧村庄项目为Muchila村民带来的其他好处包括：
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Launching Ceremony, 5 July 2024
2024年7月5日启动仪式
When Huawei Zambia invited me to join the launching ceremony and to further engage the President on more Smart Villages and Smart Zambia, I was not aware of what lies ahead and how it would affect me. Muchila is about 300km from Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. Due to the poor infrastructure, journey by car would take 6 hours. I was flown to Muchila instead on a helicopter.
当华为赞比亚邀请我参加启动仪式，并进一步与总统接触更多的智慧村庄和智慧赞比亚时，我不知道未来会发生什么，也不知道这将对我产生什么影响。Muchila距离赞比亚首都卢萨卡约300公里。由于基础设施较差，开车需要6小时。我被安排乘直升机去了Muchila。
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That one-hour helicopter journey from Lusaka to Muchila is the beginning of my very humbling experience that day. Although having travelled to 90 countries (Zambia being the 90th), it was my first time seeing such rural areas, village after village, mostly off-grid from urbanization. It dawned on me what are the true values of national digital transformation. Of course, countries at different levels of development with different technological maturity will have different transformation objectives.
从卢萨卡到Muchila的一小时的直升机旅程是我那天非常谦卑的经历的开始。虽然去过90个国家（赞比亚是第90个国家），但我还是第一次看到这样的农村地区，一个村庄又一个村庄，大多脱离城市化。我恍然大悟，什么是国家数字化转型的真正价值。当然，不同发展水平、技术成熟度不同的国家，会有不同的转型目标。
领英推荐
But for most countries, digital transformation should start with inclusivity: inclusive connectivity, inclusive education, inclusive healthcare and inclusive finance, and basic access to clean water and electricity. While it is important for a country to plan for its government digitalization, including the “One Network, One Cloud” strategy, actual implementation should start with inclusivity.
但对于大多数国家来说，数字化转型应该从包容性开始：普惠互联、包容性教育、包容性医疗和包容性金融，以及基本获得清洁的水和电力。一个国家的数字化转型，包括“一网一云”战略，固然重要，但实际的实施应该从包容性开始。
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When our helicopter was about to land at Muchila, I was shocked to see the number of villagers that were there, and even running towards the helicopter. Luckily the many security officers deployed there did a great job in maintaining public safety. It only crossed my mind later that how often the villagers of an off-grid village get visited by so many dignitaries especially the President himself, and even more excited by the Smart Village technologies awaiting them, potentially improving their livelihoods and lives as prioritized by the President.
当我们的直升机即将在Muchila降落时，我震惊地看到在场的村民数量，甚至向直升机奔去。幸运的是，部署在那里的许多安全人员在维护公共安全方面做了很大的工作。后来我才想起，一个离网村庄的村民们一生有几次会有政要尤其是总统来访问？甚至更兴奋的是智慧村庄有可能改善他们的生计和生活，这是总统的优先事项。
Before the President’s arrival, I walked around to learn about the technologies that we implemented under this Smart Village project, and also spoke to various colleagues and villagers, especially the teachers and students. Our local Zambian colleagues were clearly extremely proud of what Huawei is doing and their personal contributions to their country. Huawei Zambia also arranged for these local colleagues to present the various solutions to the President.
在总统到来之前，我四处走了一圈，了解了我们在这个智慧乡村项目下实施的技术，还和各位同事和村民，特别是老师和学生进行了交谈。我们当地的赞比亚同事显然为华为所做的事情以及他们对国家的个人贡献感到无比自豪。赞比亚华为还安排当地同事向总统介绍了各种解决方案。
Similar to other countries, such as C?te d'Ivoire, this younger generation of students are very excited by Smart Classroom and e-Learning technologies, and are even further motivated to study with such innovations. Zambia Ministry of Education has since produced a video on this Muchila Smart Classroom:
与科特迪瓦等其他国家类似，这些年轻一代的学生对智慧教室和线上学习科技非常兴奋，甚至因为这些创新有更多的动力去学习。赞比亚教育部制作了一个关于这个Muchila智慧教室的视频：
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Leadership by an Inquisitive & Studious President
好奇好学的领导者
When His Excellency, Mr. Hakainde Hichilema’s helicopter landed, the thousands of villagers went wild. They were having a festival, playing music and dancing to receive their President. I was extremely humbled and honored that the President remembers me. After meeting the local Muchila village leaders, the President started his tour of the Smart Village that Huawei built. At each station (RuralStar, Smart Classroom & Solar Farm), we had a local Zambian colleague proudly presented to the President. Being inquisitive and studious (as I experienced during his visit to Huawei HQ in 2023), the President asked many questions and shared his sharp observations.
当Hakainde Hichilema总统先生的直升机降落时，成千的村民都疯狂了。看来像是一个大节日，演奏音乐和跳舞以迎接他们的总统。总统见到我还记得我，我感到无比谦卑和荣幸。会见了当地村长后，赞比亚几位部长和华为开始给总统汇报智慧村庄的方案和价值。在每个站点（RuralStar、智慧教室和太阳能农场），我们都有一位赞比亚当地同事自豪地向总统介绍。总统好奇好学（正如2023年总统访问华为时我所经历的），提出了许多问题，并分享了他的敏锐观察。
For the few hours I was with the President, I summarized his priorities as follow:
在我与总统共度的几个小时中，我将他的优先事项总结如下：
ICT Talent Development ICT人才培养
The President was visibly surprised when I told him the RuralStar was built within 10 days (by design, RuralStar’s deployment cost is 50% of traditional telecom tower), and he was extremely pleased when I said it was entirely built by Zambian staff. He immediately told the Minister of Education to organize more such ICT trainings for their people to reskill and even upskill them, to create job opportunities even beyond Zambia. After seeing the Smart Classroom demonstration, the President also remarked that we need to train the teachers and students in using such latest educational technologies. I reported to the President that for each project, Huawei will include technical support and user trainings. On ICT talent development, Huawei in 2017 built an ICT training center for Zambia Government (under the previous administration before the current President came into office) and now we can revitalize it with very complete ICT curriculum (e.g. green energy, wireless, cloud and even AI), some with hands-on practical experience and certification. This is the President’s top priority.
当我告诉总统我们10天内建成了RuralStar（RuralStar的特色是它的部署非常简易，成本是传统电信塔的50%），总统明显感到惊讶，当我说它完全由赞比亚员工建造时，他特别兴奋与高兴。他立即告诉教育部长，要为赞比亚人民组织ICT培训，以重新掌握和提高他们的技能，创造就业机会，甚至在赞比亚以外的机会。在观看了智慧教室演示后，总统还表示，我们需要培训师生使用这些最新的教育技术。我向总统汇报，对于每个项目，华为都会包括ICT运维和用户培训。在ICT人才培养方面，华为在2017年为赞比亚政府建设了ICT培训中心（在现任总统上任之前），现在我们可以用非常完整的ICT课程（如绿色能源、无线、云甚至AI）来重振它，有些课程还带有实践经验和认证。这是总统的首要任务。
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Inclusive Education 普惠教育
At the Smart Classroom, we arranged a demonstration of hybrid learning class in session with teacher and students in Muchila Secondary School, Kalomo Secondary School (100km from Muchila) and St Ignatius College (300km from Muchila).
在智慧教室里，我们安排了混合学习课程演示，包括Muchila中学、Kalomo中学（距离Muchila100公里）和St Ignatius学院（距离Muchila300公里）的师生。
The President, Ministers and other dignitaries were very impressed by this solution and the demonstration. The President emphasized a couple of times how such innovation can enable inclusive education. Every student in Zambia takes the same examination but till now they don't have equity in education. The President is confident that Smart Village with Inclusive Connectivity and Smart Classroom will benefit over 150,000 students across the country.
总统、部长和其他政要对这一解决方案和演示留下了深刻的印象。总统多次强调这种创新能够实现包容性教育。赞比亚的每个学生都参加同样的考试，但直到现在，他们没有得到公平的教学。总统相信，智慧村庄、普惠互联和智慧教室将惠及全国超过15万名学生。
The President also felt that for each village, other facilities (e.g. health post, public services) should be built around the school and we can consolidate and share the ICT infrastructure. I took the opportunity to explain that some villagers may not afford or do not know how to use smart devices. We can leverage the smart classroom outside school hours for villagers to come to learn and use internet, further reducing digital divide in the country. The President was totally agreeable and the Minister of Technology & Science said that his ministry will arrange for 10 PCs to be deployed in this Muchila Smart Classroom. I also reported to the President that if the IdeaHub is not being used, it can automatically broadcast government announcements, important messages, and even employee recognition. But this is why the government needs a data center and its own cloud.
总统还认为，对于每个村庄，其他设施（例如卫生站、公共服务）应该建设在学校周围，我们可以整合和共享信息通信基础设施。我趁机解释说，有些村民可能买不起或者不知道怎么用终端。我们可以利用教学时间外的智慧教室，让村民来学习和使用互联网，进一步缩小全国的数字鸿沟。总统完全赞同，技术和科学部长立刻说他的部委将安排10台PC部署在这个Muchila智慧教室。我还向总统汇报，如果IdeaHub不使用，它可以自动播送政府公告、重要信息，甚至员工表彰。但这也是政府需要数据中心和政府云的原因。
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Consolidate ICT Infrastructure: “One Network, One Cloud” 整合ICT基础设施“一网一云”
Even before visiting the Smart Classroom, the President already spoke on the importance of consolidating and sharing ICT infrastructure. At the RuralStar base station, I explained to the President that we help to reduce cost by allowing two telecom operators to share the RAN (Radio Access Network) and even the digital power. The President was very quick to tell the Ministers around him that the Government needs to pool the different budget to consolidate and share ICT infrastructure. I praised the President for his vision, and added that this is why Huawei has been advising countries to start with basic National Digital Infrastructure, including “One Network, One Cloud”. I used the example of Serbia, while we have built Smart Classrooms in many schools, the learning management system is not installed in each school, but centrally in the government cloud.
在参观智慧教室之前，总统已经谈到了整合和共享ICT基础设施的重要性。在RuralStar基站，我向总统解释，我们让两家运营商共享RAN（无线接入网）和数字能源，有助于降低成本。总统很快地告诉身边的部长们，政府需要集中不同的预算，以整合和共享信息通信技术基础设施。我称赞总统的远见卓识，并补充说，这也是华为一直建议各国从国家数字基础设施入手的原因，包括“一网一云”。我举了塞尔维亚的例子，虽然我们在很多学校都建设了智慧教室，但是学习管理系统（LMS）并不是每个学校都安装，而是集中在政务云上。
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Smart Zambia Starts with Smart Villages
智慧赞比亚始于智慧村庄
As night falls on 5 July 2024, the President, Ministers, dignitaries, thousands of villagers, and the mass media were full of praises for this pioneer Smart Village in Zambia. The President himself committed to build another 100 smart villages, and the Zambia Government signed a MOU with Huawei to this effect. His Excellency, Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, is very clear that Smart Zambia starts with Smart Villages, and also the importance of education and ICT talents.
2024年7月5日，夜幕降临，总统、部长、政要、数千名村民和大众媒体充满了对赞比亚这个先驱智慧村庄的赞美。总统本人承诺再建设100个智慧村庄，赞比亚政府与华为签署了谅解备忘录。Hakainde Hichilema总统先生非常清楚，智慧赞比亚始于智慧村庄，也包括教育和ICT人才的重要性。
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After eight years in Huawei, I will forever remember 5 July 2024, I am super proud to be a Huaweier. I see with my own eyes how we are creating values for the society and the people, I was so excited and so humbled on that day! Without doubt, we are living up to the company’s mission: “Bring digital to every person, home and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world.” Huawei is definitely accelerating the Smart Zambia journey, and more importantly, directly support the President’s priority of “Socio-Economic Transformation for Improved Livelihoods”. The President said, “An initial mere dream now has been realized in Muchila.”
在华为工作八年后，我将永远记得这一天，我身为华为人感到无比自豪。我亲眼看到我们是如何给社会和人民创造价值，那天我是如此的激动和谦卑！毫无疑问，我们正在履行公司的使命：“把数字世界带入每个人、每个家庭、每个组织，构建万物互联的智能世界。”华为正在加速“智慧赞比亚”的进程，更重要的是，华为将直接支持总统提出的“社会经济转型，改善民生”的优先事项。总统说：“现在在Muchila实现了最初的梦想。”
A video released by the Zambian Government on the ceremony on 5 July 2024:?
赞比亚政府在2024年7月5日的仪式上发布的一段视频：
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Huawei also produced a video on this Smart Village:
华为制作的视频介绍这个智慧村庄：
Author | Analyst | Advisor | Storyteller | Keynote Speaker | Named Top 50 Women in Tech & Top 50 Unstoppable Women Leaders
3 个月Happy belated bday ???? Hong-Eng Koh (高宏荣) ?? and spot on, technologies should unite people always