Dr.

Hessa Al-Jaber Speech

Digitally Open: Innovation and Open Access Forum
October 23, 2010

Thank you and welcome to Digitally Open.

Thank you to all of our esteemed speakers for coming today and a special thank you to our
partner in this event, Creative Commons. They have been truly invaluable in helping develop
this amazing program. I look forward to continuing our conversation tomorrow as we begin the
important work of porting Creative Commons licenses to Qatar. These licenses will promote the
creation of original digital content in the Arab world while protecting the rights of the content
creators.

I see this as an important step in our efforts to create a truly digitally open society in Qatar.
That openness is key for Qatar’s development a thriving knowledge economy. Openness means
collaboration; it means transparency; it means sharing; it means innovation. To this end, I
believe digital openness across all sectors is essential to being a global leader of the future.

Of course, this event is a big step. However, it is just a first step. At ictQATAR we are committed
to going beyond this event and action to develop an open ecosystem in which digital content
and innovation thrive.

Tomorrow’s meeting with stakeholders from across the country will kick off the process of
bringing Creative Commons content rights licenses to Qatar. Representative from the
Intellectual Property Center, the Ministry of Business and Trade, the Qatar Museum Authority,
Qatar Foundation, QSTP, numerous law firms and others will be in attendance. Truly a diverse
group.

Bringing these flexible licenses to Qatar will help us achieve our goal of increasing the amount
of Arabic digital content. People will have confidence that the work they create and share will
be credited and shared in an appropriate manner.

Another initiative is our work with the Internet Society to start a chapter here in Qatar. The
Internet Society is committed to shaping Internet standards and policies that promote
openness and collaboration, benefiting everyone. Bringing a chapter to Qatar sends a clear
message that we support a free and open Internet.

Additionally, ictQATAR is committed to the open source software movement. We are in the
process of moving our website to an open source solution and have mandated that all future
ictQATAR web projects utilize open source solutions.
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We are also working on policies that will encourage greater adoption of interoperable Open
Source solutions across government. Government is one of the biggest consumers of IT and too
often during the procurement process, open source options are not even considered. We
would like to make it a requirement for Open Source solutions to be considered for every
government IT project in this country; and decisions must be technology-neutral and vendor-
neutral.

Requiring the inclusion of open source options has tremendous potential to not only save
money, but also to help the government avoid “lock-in,” while being better able to upgrade and
advance rapidly. And it will also force both traditional and new players to innovate.

The creation of digital content and the move toward open source solutions come together in
ictQATAR’s work with innovative local entrepreneurs and companies to develop more locally
produced digital content, with a special focus on Arabic content. With the Arab world so grossly
underrepresented on the Internet, we need to find a way to spur original content creation in
this part of the world, and open standards are certainly a way to do this.

Our goal is to work with approximately 30 companies through our incubation center by 2015.
Each will be required to work using open standards and principles as they grow their business. I
believe this will provide a unique competitive advantage and allow the content being created to
be shared more widely and hopefully, to grow virally.

Already we are seeing tangible results from local companies that take advantage of open
practices. Al Jazeera is the most prominent example with its bold decision to make much of its
content available under Creative Commons’ licenses. Sharing footage from events such as the
conflict in Gaza has provided a different perspective on world events. As a result, the Al Jazeera
brand has expanded and strengthened globally. Al Jazeera serves as a tremendous model.

ictQATAR is also in the process of developing a national digitization plan to preserve Qatar’s
national heritage and share it with the world. There is a wealth of information on Qatar’s rich
history in print, photo and film format that should be digitized. There are also an abundance of
valuable documents in Arabic that need to be brought to wider audiences. Digitizing these
materials will allow them to reach a whole new generation. And of course these materials
should be made open to the public without restrictions.

And as we share our content openly, we will also be promoting the development of open
Internet standards, especially in terms of accessibility. Digital content is only valuable if people
can access it, and too often people with disabilities are left behind. Enabling them to use the
Internet and participate in the open ecosystem means more people to create and innovate.
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To this end, ictQATAR is exploring working with the World Wide Web Consortium to develop
comprehensive accessibility standards in Arabic. This effort would be lead by Mada, Qatar’s
Assistive Technology Center, which is also working to energize the open source community
around developing and Arabizing software and technologies that can benefit people with
disabilities.

I encourage other government agencies, the private sector, and non-profit organizations to find
ways to help grow this ecosystem. In the education field, for example, it would be hugely
valuable to openly share educational resources, as recommended by UNESCO. In the medical
community, researchers may be able to find cures for diseases if they work remotely with peers
around world as opposed to rushing individually toward a patent. In many cases, being open
can even be considered a moral obligation.

I would also encourage each of you, personally, to make a commitment to openness. When I
look out into the audience, I am excited about the potential this country has to innovate. I see a
lot of young faces in this room, which doesn’t come as a surprise because 65% of the region’s
population is under the age of 25.

These are the people that will benefit the most from an open digital world. Right now ictQATAR
is working on a study that explores how technology is impacting Qatari youth. And while we are
still in the early stages of conducting that exciting research, it is no surprise that technology has
a profound effect on how our youth communicate and interact. The younger generation is full
of ideas, full of energy, full of passion. Understanding and embracing openness will create an
environment in which our young people can flourish and not feel stifled by outdated practices
and models.

And in creating an environment that truly supports global collaboration and innovation, we will
be creating a unique competitive advantage over markets that don’t promote a digitally open
society. And this will help attract big thinkers and bold new companies.

I am confident that our efforts will help us create a truly open digital ecosystem in Qatar and
encourage other countries in the region to follow our lead. The Arab world has a strong and
important voice that must be heard. Embracing a digitally open world will put us at the
forefront of innovation and help propel us towards being a knowledge based economy.

I thank you all for coming and hope that today’s event will inspire you to become part of that
digitally open society. It depends on us all.

Thank you.

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