Kenneth Fredriksen. Image: Tommy Fondelius
Huawei’s Kenneth Fredriksen discusses AI in healthcare, the ‘generational leap’ of 6G and how Europe can return to the forefront of tech leadership.
Earlier this month, the annual tech event Mobile World Congress (MWC) took place over four days in Barcelona.
Making its regular appearance at the event was telecoms giant Huawei, with its theme ‘Advancing the Intelligent World’.
Within this theme, artificial intelligence (AI) remained a major focus for the company, as major AI trends and topics dominated the event.
“In 2024, AI became the most significant variable in the ICT industry, transforming everything from business growth to network optimisation,” says Kenneth Fredriksen, senior vice-president of Huawei’s European operations.
AI for every occasion
According to Fredriksen, Huawei anticipates “significant industry shifts” across consumer, household and enterprise markets in relation to AI technology.
“AI agents will become an integral part of daily life, providing personalised, real-time services that simplify complex tasks,” he tells SiliconRepublic.com. “Multi-agent AI collaboration will give rise to a new type of internet, leading to tens of billions of new connections for operators.
“Meanwhile, AI-powered multimodal interaction will create more intuitive and emotionally aware digital experiences, far surpassing today’s gigabit broadband capabilities.”
On the household side, Fredriksen says “smart home” technology will evolve to include interactive management, lifestyle assistance and health services as standard features. While in the enterprise market, he asserts that AI will “revolutionise” industries by enhancing areas such as R&D, manufacturing, production and operational efficiency, opening up massive opportunities for digital transformation.
AI in healthcare
One area that Huawei itself is focusing on in relation to AI enhancement is healthcare, as the company showcased a range of scenario-based healthcare solutions at the Barcelona event.
In China, Fredriksen explains, Huawei is supporting a project at Shenyang Hospital where AI is being used to “unlock the full value” of clinical data – 80pc of which consists of medical imaging.
“By integrating AI with computing, storage and networking, our solution works with industry partners to enhance image quality, automate diagnostics and improve treatment efficiency,” he says.
Meanwhile, in Europe, Huawei is working on accelerating digital transformation in healthcare through partnerships such as its collaboration with Hospital Sant Pau in Spain.
Since 2020, Huawei has provided Sant Pau with “advanced all-flash storage solutions”, which Fredriksen says ensures instant access to patient data with backup, recovery and anti-ransomware protections.
“This technology not only modernises hospital IT systems but also enables real-time AI analytics, telemedicine and data-driven decision-making, ultimately improving patient care.”
However, while AI presents a significant opportunity to enhance healthcare systems, the sensitive nature of data in this area requires considerable safety measures and considerations when it comes to AI implementation.
“Responsible implementation is crucial,” emphasises Fredriksen. “Addressing issues like algorithmic bias, privacy concerns and data security requires clear regulatory frameworks, ethical AI development and industry collaboration to ensure AI is used for the benefit of all.”
On the way to 6G
As a hot topic in the telecoms industry, the road to 6G continues to gain momentum as the sector prepares itself for the changes it will bring.
Huawei is no different, as the telecoms giant has been researching 6G since 2017. According to Fredriksen, 6G will represent a “true generational leap in technology”.
“Unlike 5G, which builds on existing capabilities, 6G will require an entirely new network architecture designed to meet the demands of the 2030s and beyond,” he explains. “It will redefine industry standards, unlocking new possibilities in connectivity, efficiency and intelligence.”
However, he says that the industry must take a strategic approach to the advent of 6G.
“6G should be developed the right way, not just the fast way,” he says. “In the next five years, 5G and 5G-advanced (5G-A) will be more than sufficient for current operator needs.
“Simply replicating 5G for 6G is not a sustainable investment strategy. Instead, the focus should be on maximising 5G-A’s potential while laying the groundwork for a meaningful transition to 6G.”
Europe’s tech tribulations
As Huawei’s VP of Europe, Fredriksen believes that Europe’s longstanding foothold at the forefront of tech has faltered over the past decade. He says that with a gradual decline, the region has found itself falling behind in “all four key control domains for technology leadership” – data, computing power, access to cheap energy and advanced connectivity infrastructure.
“There are several reasons for these negative developments,” he says. “Some of the most important ones are the linked to the differences in the market structure compared to the US and China, which are now the leading innovation and technology markets.”
According to Fredriksen, the US and China offer large and consolidated markets for their tech companies that offer the scale needed to turn their technologies into “valuable business cases and opportunities”, while he says the European market is “very fragmented and more regulated”, which makes innovation, ecosystem construction and scale-up more difficult.
However, the most critical factor for European decline according to Fredriksen is “the long-term shortage of high-tech talent supply, lack of R&D investments and support of entrepreneurs”.
So, how can Europe address these challenges and catch up to its counterparts?
Fredriksen says the first step is the “simplification of regulations and legislations that can support competition, investments and innovation to accelerate”.
Secondly, he says that Europe needs to carefully assess and define some areas that the region wants to attain global leadership in and then “invest massively” in R&D and the required infrastructure.
He also says that Europe needs to make it “more attractive” to invest in engineering and tech education, both in academia and industry. He says that there needs to be an effort to increase awareness of “the future importance of technology” in education as early as primary school, and this emphasis should be supported along the educational cycle by a “continuously agile and dynamically updated curriculum”.
“Once talent supply is secured,” he says, “Europe needs to ensure these talents see Europe as the most attractive and potential place to develop their careers.”
Lastly, he says that the region needs to focus on offering open, fair and transparent market conditions so that Europe can “gain the full value of competition”, which he heralds as the key driver of innovation.
“For European companies to grow and become globally competitive, they need to constantly compete against the best both inside and outside of Europe.”
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