Qatar - National US-Arab Chamber of Commerce

ictQATAR – Streamlining Qatar’s Future
In March 2009, Qatar placed 29th among
the 134 countries that were surveyed for
the Networked Readiness Index of the Global
Information Technology Report 2008-2009.
The annual report is produced by the World
Economic Forum and INSEAD, and it is a
comprehensive global assessment of the impact
that ICT has on a nation’s global competitiveness.
Since Qatar was first surveyed for the
report in 2005-2006, the country has climbed
steadily from 39th to 29th place in the rankings.
Secretary General Dr. Hessa Al-Jaber (right) honoring one of 5
winners in a competition sponsored by ictQATAR.
Given the fact that Qatar is a relative
newcomer in the race to achieve ICT-friendly
societies, this is a notable achievement. “In
just a few short years, we have begun to realize
the rewards of information and communication
technology,” explains Dr. Hessa Al-Jaber,
Secretary General of the Supreme Council of
Information and Communication Technology
– ictQATAR. “Since 2006, Qatar has jumped
ahead in the index because both the public
and private sectors are dedicated to leveraging
ICT to help Qatar achieve its leadership role
in the global economy,” adds Dr. Al-Jaber.
ictQATAR was established in 2004 as the
policy-making and regulatory body responsible
for maintaining a national ICT strategy to
help transform Qatar into a knowledge-based
society. “Our mission is to create an advanced
ICT community, where the community at
large can use ICT to improve the quality of
their lives and actively contribute to the social
and economic development of Qatar,” stated
H.H. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani,
the Heir Apparent and Chairman of ictQATAR,
during the inaugural launch in May 2005.
During the last six years, the State of Qatar
has made strategic ICT investments across
many sectors. In 2006, the telecommunications
sector was liberalized, thereby opening
the market to competition. Numerous initiatives
were launched, such as e-government,
e-education, e-health, e-inclusion, and
30 NUSACC • www.nusacc.org
e-security. Qatar’s first-generation e-government
plan began in 2003, and it produced a variety
of online services that have been incorporated
into the present e-initiatives.
ICT 2015, ictQATAR’s current five-year
plan, has enumerated four goals central to a
sustainable knowledge-based society: build
an advanced ICT infrastructure, encourage
public and private sector use of ICT, develop
citizens’ e-skills, and foster research and
development.
Hukoomi – an easy-to-use online
gateway to government information
and services – has been described as an
“historic milestone” because of its ability
to link 50 government entities online
at once. In one year, from 2008-2009,
Hukoomi enabled four million electronic
transactions. Hukoomi is the centerpiece
of ictQATAR’s effort to create a transparent
and streamlined government.
Qatar is already reaping the benefits
of integrating ICT into many aspects
of the country’s public and private daily
life. In the resident population (excluding
the transient labor population), internet
penetration is 63 percent, and 54 percent of
residents are computer users. There are 88
PCs per 100 government employees, and 95
percent of all physicians and 78 percent of all
nurses have internet connections in government
hospitals and health centers. More than
90 percent of all businesses in Qatar have
internet connections, with the exception of
micro-businesses, which register 41 percent
internet availability.
The Government of Qatar’s commitment
to build a world-class educational system is
evident. Qatar ranks highest in the MENA
region with 12.7 PCs per 100 students in
schools, and many of the most advanced ICT
efforts are directed toward improving the
primary and secondary educational system.
Knowledge Net, for example, is a portal that
enables three-way communications among
parents, schools and teachers. E-schoolbag,
Global Gateway, and Model e-school are
additional programs designed to introduce
state-of-the-art ICT educational practices to
local schools.
One of Qatar’s most high-profile endeavors
is Education City. Sprawling across 14 million
square meters (150,694,746 square feet), this
project houses educational facilities from
grades one through post-graduate, and it
includes branch campuses of some of the
world’s leading universities.
“The rapid growth of Education City and
the diversity of its operations meant that it
was only a matter of time before it outgrew
its original network,” explains Sa’di Awienat,
Qatar Foundation’s Information Technology
“Our mission is to create an
advanced ICT community, where
the community at large can use
ICT to improve the quality of
their lives and actively contribute
to the social and economic
development of Qatar.”
H.H. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani,
Chairman of ictQATAR
Director. “We are on an endless journey to
design and implement innovative ICT solutions
that fulfill the growing needs of our customers
and enable our elite universities and the worldclass
research centers to operate.”
This “journey” led to the creation of Meeza
(“advantage” in Arabic), a managed IT services
and solutions provider, formed as a commercial
joint venture between Cisco and the Qatar
Foundation. Meeza, in turn, will monitor and
manage the region’s first
Research and Education
Network (REN), a new
state-of-the-art, 40
Gbps-ready fiber
optic network that
w i l l c o n n e c t
r e s e a r c h a n d
academic institutes
in Qatar, as
well as provide
access to other
international
research facilities.
“This network will support our
world-class universities here at Qatar Foundation
and help us prepare the next generation
of leaders,” says Rashid Al Naimi, Vice President
for Administration at Qatar Foundation.
“Additionally,” he notes, “it highlights the
important role that IT service providers such
as Meeza will play in furthering the development
and success of Qatar as a knowledgebased
society.”