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#Huawei - From 'Made in #China to created in China': The future of innovation

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Firstly, creation in China is not something new. China was the most technologically advanced nation on earth for over 3000 years China. China’s creative energy has given the world thousands of world-changing inventions, such as moveable type printing (Bi Sheng - 500 years before Gutenberg), paper-making, (100CE), brought to Europe by 8th century traders, together with the compass invented 1,000 years earlier for building; gunpowder for fire-crackers and festivities, late applied by Europeans for colonization. Kites, clocks, rockets, wheels barrows and rain umbrella (parasols were Egyptian), are just a few more, writes Huawei Technologies Global Trade Vice President Craig Burchell.

Secondly, protection of intellectual property is something new. (A 19th century evolution from literae patentes monopolies). IPR protection enables big returns to modern inventors that was never available to earlier inventors in China. The shift came in the industrial revolution, when British inventors suffered IP theft, copying and reverse engineering from transatlantic cousins; Sam Salter copied the 'Spinning Jenny' and F. C. Lowell the weaving machine; two transformative British inventions that enabled industrial-scale weaving. With state subsidies and protectionism from US Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, these copiers transformed the US economy from being agrarian, rural and poor.

How does this background provide context to the success of Huawei?

Firstly, the business context. Huawei began its journey 40 years ago when the internet was in its infancy. US and European telecoms giants were going global as the demand for services and infrastructure boomed. In China, foreign switchboard equipment dominated in major cities in China. It was very challenging for a small start-up called Huawei to access that market. Huawei grew initially as a local reseller of US Mitel PBX equipment in rural and medium-sized towns.

Everyone in Huawei knows innovation is the key to success and have worked tirelessly to achieve the best. Huawei’s first big breakthrough was in 1993 with the first digital telecoms switch, C&C08. It became a best seller. In 1991 Finland made the world’s first GSM mobile call and 6 years later Huawei made its own. The same year Huawei started R&D for 3G and produced its own 3G chipset in 2001. When licenses were delayed for the deployment of 3G in China, Huawei turned to international markets. In 2004 created the “distributed base-station” for Telfort (KPN, Netherlands) and more and more telecoms operators in Europe turned to Huawei for partnerships.

The single biggest differentiator at Huawei is undoubtedly the corporate culture. The corporate innovation ecosystem is infused with total dedication. It is embedded in how technicians and engineers operate. The motivation is both personal and group because it is wholly employee owned company. In many ways this drive resembles more a club of avid enthusiasts than a company of contracted employees.

There are many examples of employees’ dedication in difficult situations: In Libya when thousands of foreigners fled the country, Huawei engineers stayed to keep the mobile network functioning. Huawei engineers were on site maintaining communications after the Tsunami in Japan, and the earthquake in Sichuan. There are many more.

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Huawei became a global leader in 5G through heavy investment, continuous innovation, and simplified solutions. Investment in R&D has totalled more than €2 billion over the past 10 years, (€11bn in 2018). Continuous innovation produced 2,500 patents filed in 2018. Simplified solutions deliver the lowest energy consumption, lightest equipment, minimum assembly meaning the total cost of ownership is continuously optimized for the customer.

Huawei takes a long term view: Each Huawei Business Units researches what their customers need today and tomorrow. Laboratories work on tech R&D for next generation products, and the generation after that. Huawei aims for technology leadership across specific fields of science and engineering, through partnerships, interdisciplinary research and by connecting academia and industry.

Huawei has more than 90,000 R&D staff, and knows these are not enough to find all the answers, which is why there is extensive partnership with Universities. The Huawei Innovation Research Programme (HIRP) is an open innovation competition, extended to Europe in 2004, where, via an online portal, Universities can propose ideas for research which will benefit Huawei’s customers in telecommunications.

Given that creation in China is nothing new, China is resuming its position as a leading place for innovation, with strong IP protection and a long term perspective. Huawei is dedicated to the creating a fully connected and intelligent world and is doing so in a spirit of collaboration and partnership.

Craig Burchell is Global Trade VP at Huawei, Shenzhen, China and has worked 30 years in trade law and technology, as well as 18 years at Philips Electronics and for US and Asia-based multinationals.

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