Doha: The Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani yesterday inaugurated the third Qatar ICT Conference and Exhibition ‘QITCOM 2014’ and launched three national strategies — the Qatar e-Government Strategy 2020, Qatar National Cyber Security Strategy and the Inclusion through Technology Strategy.
The Prime Minister disclosed a number of national strategies within the framework of principles of frankness and transparency, which makes it incumbent on the government to announce its development plans to enhance the private sector’s participation in its implementation.
He said that the State of Qatar’s e-Government Strategy 2020 is aimed at improving the performance of government services, reduce public expenditure and achieve effective coordination and coherence among government agencies. The Prime Minister announced the launch of the national strategy for information security that aims to protect the information and biological systems from piracy, stressing that the constant threats facing cyberspace makes it incumbent on the country to coordinate efforts at the highest state levels to protect its security .
The Prime Minister also declared the launch of Inclusion through Technology Strategy which will be implemented by the Qatar Assistive Technology Center, Mada, that strives to empower and enable people with disabilities and take advantage of their energies and potential in the development process .
He said one cannot neglect the role of people with disabilities in technology. The Peninsula
The Prime Minister praised all efforts being exerted to translate these plans into reality reflecting positively on the economy and society in Qatar.
He said: “We have made our development in Qatar National Vision 2030, which focussed on building the homeland and the citizen. The government is making all efforts to build institutions depending on management resources effectively, relying on professional standards and excellence in productivity and efficiency in rendering service of the public interest”.
Organised by the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology at Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC) under the theme “Innovating Today for the Future of Qatar”, the opening ceremony was attended by a number of ministers, senior officials and high-profile figures.
The Minister of Information and Communications Technology H E Dr Hessa Al Jaber welcomed the gathering and the Minister of Finance H E Ali Sharif Al Emadi delivered the keynote speech.
Dr Hessa Al Jaber said the digital landscape in Qatar is healthy and dynamic in light of the legislation and regulatory frameworks, noting that the Qatari telecommunications sector grew from 6 percent in 2008 to 11 percent in 2013 and is expected to go up from 9 percent to 12 percent in the coming five years.
“We are moving with firm steps in the right direction towards building the information society and knowledge-based economy,” she added.
Dr Al Jaber invited telecommunications companies to adopt new business models that could enable them to provide innovative services particularly because the competition in the world of Internet has become fiercer.
With regard to the postal sector Dr Al Jaber said there would be work in the coming period to regulate the postal sector towards providing services that fulfil customers needs, be it individuals or corporates, as well as developing an infrastructure for postal service networks and systems. “We will work on developing Q-Post to become a reliable postal services operator capable of competition and self-sufficiency by 2018.”
Al Emadi said the ICT sector is among the most important pillars of Qatar National Vision 2030 due to its crucial role in enhancing and accelerating the knowledge-based economy buildup process. Due to the importance of the ICT sector in economy, he remarked, many parties are injecting huge investments to expand their business and foster their capabilities, which took ICT sector’s contribution to the NGP from nearly QR5.5bn in 2007 to QR7.5bn in 2013.The Peninsula
