TBY discusses Qatar's digital transformation with Reem Al Mansouri

The Business Year (TBY) is a global media group that has been providing investors, businesses, and governments with first-hand insights into the world's most dynamic markets for over a decade. TBY met with Reem Al Mansouri, Assistant Undersecretary of Digital Society Development at the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MoTC) for an exclusive interview to be featured in its upcoming edition of the country, The Business Year: Qatar 2020.

The relevance of technology is increasing across all sectors in Qatar, and a strong and stable ICT sector is crucial to Qatar's successful transformation into a knowledge-based economy. In line with this, the MoTC is launching multiple initiatives backed with well-planned strategies, including first and foremost the TASMU Smart Qatar Program, to raise the ICT sector's contribution to GDP, which stood at 2.7 percent in 2018.

Revolutionary advances in technology are reshaping the way people live, work, and relate to one another, and transforming the way societies function and the way they are governed. The MoTC's market assessments indicate that cloud computing, augmented reality, (AR), virtual reality (VR), and blockchain will play a vital role in the growth of Qatar's ICT sector.

Commenting on MoTC's flagship project, TESMU, Reem Al Mansouri said that 'TASMU Smart Qatar Program harnesses advanced technologies to drive sustainable economic diversification and improve the quality of life for Qatar's citizens, residents, and visitors. Created as the digital response to Qatar National Vision 2030, TASMU seeks to enhance the delivery of public services across five priority sectors, namely transport, logistics, environment, healthcare, and sports.

The main goal of TESMU is to utilize smart technologies to enhance the people's daily lives, deliver better public services, and make citizens' and residents' every interaction with government entities more convenient. TASMU connects entities, businesses, and developers to build safe, seamless, and convenient solutions for a diversified economy, smart ecosystem, and a sustainable future. As the facilitator of Qatar's smart country transformation, TASMU's integral parts⁠—TASMU Digital Valley and TASMU Innovation Lab⁠—are responsible for catalyzing tangible outputs.

The TASMU Smart Qatar program puts people at the heart of its strategy. The MoTC defines a smarter Qatar not by the use of sophisticated technologies but by the impact they will have on the lives of the people.

Through workshops, the ministry has viewed different journeys and experiences from the point of view of citizens, residents, and visitors to define touchpoints, challenges, and pain points. Bringing private and public sector players together with academia and having a human-centered design approach, these workshops produced over 100 use-cases that are set to be implemented between 2020 and 2024.

TASMU will be under the spotlight at QITCOM, Qatar's largest Information and communication technology exhibition, which will be held from October 29 to November 1. Several major announcements and new partnerships will also be unveiled during the event.

The Business Year: Qatar 2020, which will be published in 1Q2020, will mark TBY's sixth anniversary in the Qatar and will present an unprecedented coverage of the Qatari economy, with analyses, infographics, and exclusive interviews with leaders across Qatar's private and public sectors.

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