A PRESENTATION ON

TECHNOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT OF QATAR

FOR THE SUBJECT OF GLOBAL COUNTRY REPORT

Introduction of Qatar
Qatar is an oil-rich peninsula jutting out into the Gulf

between Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. Qatar is a rapidly modernizing country in the Middle East. It is famous for its modern cities, distinctive architecture, ancient rock carvings, sand dunes and beaches. Tourist attractions in Qatar include Doha, known for its modern skyscrapers and traditional style Grand Mosque and the Abu Bakir al-Siddiq Mosque. Other tourist attractions are the 19th century Umm Salal Mohammed Fort, and Burzan Tower, Al Zubra Fort, Khor Al-Adaid Lake, Entertainment City (the Kingdom of Aladdin), and the ancient stone carvings at Al Jassasiya.

Technological Environment of Qatar

Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP) provides the

strategy and the means for accelerating technology development in Qatar. New technology-based enterprises that are helping expand Qatar's economy and providing stimulating career opportunities for the country's brilliant young scientists and engineers.

Contd..
QSTP and its partners have launched projects in a wide

range of technologies, they focus in particular on areas strategically important to Qatar's development energy, the environment, health sciences and information & communication technology.

Information and communication technology

QSTP is following in those steps by creating a world-class

scene where established players and new ventures in information technology (IT) can team up and compete. Cisco is the world's leading manufacturer of switches and routers - the plumbing of the Internet - but it is also an input provider of other networking services. Its QSTP existence is known as 'Project IQ'. To improve IT skills in Qatar, Cisco is providing technical training and internship opportunities to confined universities, partners, and customers.

Contd..
One more global IT firm, Microsoft, the world's largest

software provider, has been a member at QSTP as its beginning. Microsoft has allocated $4 million to six initiating technology-related projects. A much newer Canadian-based software developer, Fuego, is using mobile phones to make interactive websites. In 2008 Fuego was awarded a QSTP grant to expand and examine such technology.

Health sciences
A thousand years ago, Arab-Muslim health care and drug

were instrumental in vaulting global medical thinking from the ancient into the modern. A fascinating new QSTP undertaking has combined both traditions medicine and robotics. Qatar is to become a local centre for robotic operation as six doctors experience training for Qatar Science & Technology Park's new medical robotics facility. Another capable QSTP joint venture in health care is the Scientific Medical Applied Research & Development Company (SMARD).

Contd..
Qatar's first biotechnology and medical research company,

SMARD will build up diagnostic tools and treatments for diseases, especially those that particularly influence Middle East and North Africa populations.

Industrial engineering
European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company

(EADS) has recognized a centre for training, research and development at QSTP: the EADS Competence Centre of Qatar (EADS QCC). EADS QCC includes 1,000 square meters of laboratories, training rooms, and offices, including a radiography room and a magnetic test bench capable of inspecting pieces up to 500 kg.

Environmental and water issues

How best to protect the environment is one more pressing

matter in Qatar and worldwide, reflected in the evolving makeup of projects at QSTP. TCE Consulting Engineers Limited, an ancillary of Indian engineering giant Tata Group, is investing $12 million over the next five years at QSTP to develop engineering solutions for environmental challenges.

Progress and Challenges

Qatars telecommunications infrastructure has swiftly

expanded and evolved, with the continued growth of nextgeneration access networks that provide ultrafast connectivity, making services more widespread and reliable. The launch of a new high-capacity communications satellite in 2013, along with a burgeoning network of submarine cables, will further increase bandwidth and speed. Government operations have been streamlined and more than 360 e-government services are already available online through a centralized portalHUKOOMI.

Contd..
Qatars mobile penetration stands at 167 percent, one of

the highest in the world. Where all other developed countries average is 116. Broadband usage has jumped from 41 percent of households in 2008 to 70 percent in 2010. Qatar ranks in the top quartile of all countries surveyed in the latest World Economic Forums Networked Readiness Index. The ICT market in Qatar keeps growing and is projected to expand at a double digit compound annual growth rate.