(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Ayeni Olusegun |
The Peninsula
Qatar has facilitated the introduction of the latest technologies and developed the necessary regulatory tools to administer the telecommunications sector and develop the information technology sector effectively, H E Mohammed bin Ali Al Mannai, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, said while opening the Smart City expo Doha 2022, yesterday.
The two-day Expo being held at Msheireb Downtown Doha, the world's first sustainable downtown regeneration project and one of the smartest cities, will conclude today. Ricard Zapatero Camps, CEO of Fira Barcelona International; Francis Suarez, Mayor of Miami and Smart City Expo host in USA Miami; Hardie Davis Jr., Mayor of Augusta; Nasser Al Kawari, CEO of Msheireb Properties; and several senior government officials, speakers and experts attended the inauguration.
“The digital transformation and transformation of smart cities requires the availability of a set of elements, including an advanced, secure and reliable communication infrastructure, which is the cornerstone of technological progress and innovation in the country. To transform into smart cities, we also need to activate a set of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of things (IoT), machine-to-machine technology, and other technologies that contribute to increasing business efficiency and improving the quality of life,” Al Mannai said.
He disclosed that since smart cities depend on applications and services based on communications and information technology, Qatar has made sure to have local data centres that can securely host the data from these applications and services.
“Through this, users can quickly access them. Especially with broadband technology which enables us to transfer and process data as an amplifier without delay,” he added.
Al Mannai said Msheireb is one of the successful models for smart city applications and stressed the importance of public-private partnerships in the transformation of smart cities.
The Smart City Expo Doha 2022 is being held under the theme“Sustainable Future of Resilience”. More than 70 world-renowned smart city experts from over 60 countries, including over 90 sponsors and exhibitors, are participating in the Expo.
Msheireb CEO Al Kawari noted that smart cities have become a real need to cope with the rapid change of today's world.“Technology is now an integral part of today's construction projects and urban developments, which is keen to leverage the digital revolution to offer people more benefits in their daily life and work. Msheireb Downtown Doha became one of the world's smartest and most sustainable city districts, and an ideal example of what modern urban planning should be, to meet the demands of the future with resilience and flexibility.”
Commenting on the event, Zapatero said holding the Expo in a real smart city proves Doha as the capital of smart cities.
“From Barcelona, we are so proud to be partnering with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and the Government of Qatar for this Expo. This is the most original event that Fira Barcelona is hosting because it is the first time we are holding a smart city expo in a real smart city. People will have the chance to feel what a real smart city is like. This is putting Doha today as the capital of smart cities,” Zapatero said.
Other speakers, including the mayors of US cities Miami and Augusta, lauded their partnership with Qatar and the significance of infusing sustainable and smart solutions to the daily operations of cities. The Expo will be held in Curitiba (Brazil), Miami (USA), Shanghai (China), and Barcelona (Spain).
Panel sessions included: Business creation: lessons from the ground up; Digital Acceleration – Driving forward smart cities and social sustainability; A decade of digital transformation in one year; The new science of cities: public services, data analytics and urban platforms; Envisioning a future of sustainable and connected mobility in cities; TASMU: The engine for Cross-sector Use Case and Data orchestration; and many more.
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