(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Ayeni Olusegun |
The Peninsula
Doha: Barzan Holdings' primary focus on defence and security has consistently upgraded its focus to the evolving security apparatus though maintaining the classical models, Abdullah Al Khater, Barzan Holdings Vice-President & Chief Strategic Procurement Officer, told the media yesterday on the sidelines of the 14th Milipol Qatar 2022.
As a fully-funded company of the Ministry of Defence, Barzan is a strategic partner of Millipol for the second straight exhibition. In this year's edition, the company participates with 11 subsidiaries and joint ventures within the group -- showcasing various solutions akin to Qatar's needs. Al Khater also noted that while Barzan Holdings had signed major deals during the recent DIMDEX Conference, it will focus more on various agreements and memorandum of understanding with different entities, whether in the technology aspect or academic research aspect in the ongoing Milipol Qatar 2022.
“Primarily, Barzan focuses on two different areas, defence and security. Talking about homeland security is not just about the classical, machine guns only or ammunitions. Now, there is an evolution of security regarding homeland security. So Barzan participates in the classical ones and the trends or evolution,” Al Khater said.
“When I say evolution, I'm talking about the cybersecurity, the anti-drone systems, these kinds of things that give countries difficult situations around the world. Cybersecurity is critical to any nation now, as all governments are switching to e-government. So that is an important aspect that we are focusing on. Also, finding a solution to the drones making security threats worldwide, whether to airports or infrastructure. This is something that Barzan Holdings is working on as well,” he added.
According to Al Khater, Barzan established the Qatar Cyber Academy in partnership with Raytheon Technology to provide curriculum training in Qatar for National Service Academy recruits.
Abdullah Al Khater added:“Every Qatari graduating from high school must do national service for a period of time. To impact the whole community with cybersecurity awareness, our agreement with Raytheon will see them deliver specialised cybersecurity training to all the cadets within the National Service Academy.
“First, we give them the initial training and assess them. So Once we do the assessment, we take the people who have the highest score and the highest interest, and we qualify them even further in that field -- where we can take those individuals with the talent to the right places in the country,” Al Khater added.
Furthermore, Barzan Holdings' objective of empowering research and development in Qatar also facilitates its partnership with local academic institutions financially and professional workforce.
“On research and development, we partner with the academic institutions locally and are also open abroad to work on this. We just signed a deal with Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) where we are sponsoring the university with QR10m on the quantum computing project,” Al Khater disclosed.
Barzan's latest innovations include anti-drone solutions developed in partnership with Rheinmetall Barzan Advanced Technologies (RBAT) to provide a complete solution to counter the emerging threats posed by the proliferation of drones. According to Al Khater, Barzan Holdings is also continuing work with RBAT on the development of a Qatari System Integration - command and control software - for the deployment of autonomous combat vehicles.
Barzan Holdings' portfolio consists of direct investments, early-stage venture capital investments, indirect investments, as well as joint ventures that benefit Qatar through the creation of new technologies and acquisition of intellectual property. The company investments extend beyond military industries to include the health sector. Following its venture with Aspen Medical Australia through Edraq Healthcare Solutions, Barzan provides innovative and world-class healthcare solutions to stakeholders in Qatar, including the Qatar Armed Forces.
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