(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Deepak John |The Peninsula
Doha, Qatar: Qatar looks forward to growing its data centre capacity three times more in the next five to six years and attracting more hyperscalers, said Minister of Communications and Information technology H E Mohammed bin Ali bin Mohammed Al Mannai, yesterday at the Qatar Economic Forum (QEF).
Addressing a discussion entitled, 'Artificial Intelligence: Regulation & Innovation' Minister Al Mannai highlighted Qatar's National AI Strategy, its key pillars and how Technology can unlock a new era of growth for the nation. Qatar has attracted many global players when it comes to data centres and hyperscalers,“we look forward to growing our data centre capacity in Qatar three times more in the next five to six years and also to attract more hyperscalers, more than what we have to operate from Qatar.”
Qatar announced the launch of the Al Fanar Arabic artificial intelligence project in the opening address at QEF 2024 and the country has allocated a package of incentives worth QR9bn to support comprehensive digital transformation. The project will primarily focus on collecting quality data in the Arabic language, contributing to enriching large linguistic models and preserving the Arab identity.
Minister Al Mannai explained that the idea of Fanar, the Generative AI Arabic Language Model (LLM), started with research about the foundational model and large language model from the Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI) developed it step by step until they reached a very solid foundational model that the government decided to invest in more by providing additional capability, infrastructure and providing more access to data.
Fanar stands as an Arabic generative AI model adept at navigating the intricate linguistic landscape of Arabic. It will be fuelled by vast, precise Arabic content, enabling it to evolve and enhance within linguistic frameworks, and ultimately produce culturally resonant Arabic content. This initiative is a cornerstone in the development of Arabic LLMs, enriching digital experiences for institutions and Arabic speakers alike.
Qatar had put a national AI strategy back in 2019 based on six pillars - education, data access, employment, business, research and ethics. Explaining the impact of AI, Minister Al Mannai stated“We see AI as an opportunity in Qatar because we have a limited human capital capacity and in order to introduce efficiencies and increase the output of the current capacity, AI would be a major contributor.
“I think one of the important pillars in the strategy is data, but the real challenge is to ensure that the amount of data available is of a certain quality and capacity that will enable to innovate in the future of AI,” he added.
Commenting on collaboration among other countries in the region on Arabic version of AI LLM, he said,“I think we should all collaborate as we sit on a limited amount of data. We would have to open up together and make sure that those models are open-source models where everyone can benefit from them.
If we see the world today, the amount of data that's available in Arabic is very limited. I think the Arabic data on Internet doesn't exceed 2 percent to 3 percent which again is a challenge.”
Speaking regarding how Qatar is attracting human capital, Minister Al Mannai said, over the coming seven to eight years,“We should be doubling ICT professionals in Qatar to increase the existing 20,000 to 46,000, an average increase of almost 100 percent.”
Minister of Communications and Information Technology also mentioned the recent introduction of the talent visa which he stated would be a great tool in order to make sure that the talent would live here comfortably and the Josoor programme which is another vehicle that talent can be operated through.
The Minister further said, as part of our digital Agenda 2030,“we will be launching a programme by the beginning of next year which will be specifically designed to attract digital talent to operate from Qatar”.
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