ICT • Forum

Qatar’s agility, embrace of emerging technologies, and experimental mindset have placed it ahead of the game in terms of its digitalization strategy compared to other countries.

Adrian Wood CEO, SIEMENS QATAR

SIEMENS QATAR FOCUSES on technologies that transform industry, infrastructure, and transport—we are involved a number of energy distribution, smart building, and system control-related projects. In digital industries, we look at how we can connect hardware and software, collect process data, analyze that data, and use it to optimize the business for our industry customers. We talk to our customers and listen for their pain points. We recommend innovative solutions based on what is being done in other countries. Seeing is believing. If a customer sees a solution working well in a similar context, he or she can understand the achievement and savings that can be made with the latest technology. This can apply to a control system or traffic management system in cities such as Madrid or London. We present the technologies that are out there and how they can enhance the infrastructure in Qatar. We put customer impact at the very center of what we do. We pride ourselves on understanding what matters to our customers, listening to them, and empowering them.

Hasan Khan REGIONAL MANAGER & ACTING GM, CISCO QATAR

FOR CISCO, in today’s context, digital transformation is the application of technology to build new business models, processes, software, and systems that results in more profitable revenue, greater competitive advantage, and higher efficiency. Cisco provides the foundation for digital transformation that consists of a comprehensive product and services portfolio, digital solutions, and a developer environment supported by a broad global ecosystem of partners. Cisco’s portfolio brings together connectivity, security, automation, and analytics. Cisco has the largest network of local resellers and partners in Qatar, with more than 1,200 certified professionals. Our key values include knowledge transfer. That partner community creates a rich ecosystem to get the best for each sector. Also, Cisco has more than 30 dedicated resources assigned to various sectors: education, healthcare, government, media and sports, defense and public safety, utilities, transportation, finance and banking, hospitality, oil and gas, and others.

Lana Khalaf COUNTRY GENERAL MANAGER, MICROSOFT

MICROSOFT QATAR is keen to enable the country and all its people, especially during the COVID-19 crisis. While our commitment continues to be in alignment with Qatar National Vision 2030, it has also shifted toward empowering the country in overcoming the most urgent challenges. The announcement of the Microsoft global cloud region came at the right time to help address the pressing needs. We enabled remote learning for all students and teachers in Qatar, secure remote work for everyone in the country, including 124,000 government employees and 17,000 oil and gas and logistics workers, to ensure business continuity. We also launched Stay Safe and Stay Connected campaigns and were able to deploy tools such as Microsoft Teams all over the country within 24-48 hours. We were not only implementing and enabling but also scaling our services in parallel to ensure speed and security. Microsoft global cloud services at times powered and enabled all major initiatives in the country to continue on schedule.

Cengiz Oztelcan CEO, GULF BRIDGE INTERNATIONAL (GBI)

GBI PLAYS A CRUCIAL role in supporting Qatar’s digitalization by providing innovative solutions to optimize digital experiences in the region and beyond. Indeed, we work in partnership with companies like Microsoft and Vodafone, and these relationships represent significant milestones on this mission. Through strategic collaboration, we are able to mitigate challenges faced by organizations of all kinds as they look towards cloud adoption, by providing a solid foundation for future digital transformation. Cloud adoption can pose significant obstacles to businesses, specifically in terms of ensuring secure connectivity with on-premises and public cloud environments, managing connection breaks, the high cost of bandwidth required for migration, as well as the overall expenditure associated with cloud adoption. But our partnerships with the aforementioned companies aim to address these obstacles by using GBI’s global MPLS backbone to provide higher reliability, security, and speeds while yielding significant cost benefits.