IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

The scope of the MOU will cover areas such as telecommunications, e-health, e-education, e-commerce and e-tourism. Both parties will share experience and knowledge and explore co-operation on projects which will be implemented by both the public and private sectors. This will further accelerate the development and adoption of ICT in both states.

He suggested that e-health and e-education services can easily be achieved by connecting existing facilities with cutting-edge IT services.

“Korea and Qatar share strong partnership in the field of energy; and now it is time to diversify the bilateral trade relations,” Chang Kyu Kim, Director General for Emerging Economies Cooperation at the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, Commerce, Industry and Energy, Republic of Korea told The Peninsula.

The service, the first in the entire region to be introduced here, has been titled ‘QPAY’ through which even people without credit cards but holding bank accounts will be able to pay, for example, utility bills and school fees of their children and make payments for purchases made by them as well.

Qatar’s commitment to smart and sustainable urban development is deeply embedded within its national aspiration expressed through the Third National Development Strategy and Digital Agenda 2030.

The journey is one of leveraging technology, innovation, and dynamic public-private ecosystem to transform the nation and enhance the quality of life for all, optimise city management and foster robust economic diversification, building sustainable life for future generations, Assistant Undersecretary for Digital Industry Affairs at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), H E Reem Mohammed Al Mansoori said during the launch of fourth edition of Smart City Expo Doha 2025, featured at MWC25 Doha, yesterday.

Ahmad Hamad Al Muhannadi, the director of Qatar's e-government project, said the move was part of the government's efforts to improve efficiency.

The Investment Promotion Agency Qatar (Invest Qatar) has announced the launch of a joint report with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT)

Qatar’s digital investments across key priority technologies are expected to soar to $5.7 billion by 2026, up from $1.65 billion in 2022, according to a new report.

The Investment Promotion Agency Qatar (Invest Qatar) has announced the launch of a joint report with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), titled ‘Smarter Qatar: Embracing Emerging Technologies and Innovation, Improving Lives and Driving a Sustainable Digital Economy.”

The UN E-Government Survey assesses UN member states on their application of information and communication technologies to serve and interact with their citizens. It provides a comprehensive assessment of national online services, telecommunication infrastructure and human capital. The e-government survey describes how far governments have actually advanced in these fields. The 2010 edition of the biennial report presented various roles for e-governments in addressing the global financial and economic crisis.

Emir of Kuwait H H Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah honoured Qatar’s official e-Government Portal (Hukoomi) and the smart phone application of the Ministry of Interior (Metrash 2) for winning the 2017 H H Sheikh Salem Al Ali Al Sabah Informatics Award in the “Government Sector” category.

The Minister of Transport and Communications H E Jassim Saif Ahmed Al Sulaiti and Director General of Public Security Staff Major General H E Saad bin Jassem Al Khulaifi received the awards at a ceremony organised at Bayan Palace in the capital Kuwait yesterday. The Minister of Transport and Communications expressed thanks and appreciation to the Emir of Kuwait for his patronage and continuing encouragement to the Award, as well as to H H Sheikh Salem Al Ali Al Sabah. The Minister also thanked organisers of the event for their efforts and successful organisation.

This online payment platform, dubbed QPay, will be hosted under Hukoomi (www.gov.qa), the country’s one-stop e-government portal created by the Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology of Qatar (ictQATAR).

QPay will be launched in light of the record amount of payments made through Hukoomi in the past year, as noted by ictQATAR.

NRI is defined as the degree of preparedness of a nation to participate and benefit from ICT developments.

UAE and Kuwait are ranked 29th and 54th respectively among 122 countries of the world.

The Qatar Information Technology and Communication Conference and Exhibition (Qitcom 2019), which concluded on Friday, stood out for launching a number of key services and signing agreements for some strategic projects. Among the highlights were a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for setting up the Qatar National Laboratory for Technology Vetting (Common Criteria Vetting Lab), a first in the GCC and Arab states and a boost to cybersecurity in the country. The state-of-the-art technology lab aims to test security products for functionality and vet information and communications technology products, while enhancing the security standards in the country. In line with Qatar’s National Cybersecurity Strategy, the focus will be on several product categories for different sectors including oil and gas, IoT, smart cities and autonomous vehicles.

The Government Network is intended to provide a highly secure platform to connect a range of government agencies in the country, to improve communications and data sharing between them.

Addressing a press conference at the Immigration and Travel Documents Department, IT Department director Col Saleh Khamis al-Kobeisi said the smart card was introduced as a part of the interior ministry’s strategy to adopt the hi-tech programmes of security and to improve the services offered to nationals and expatriates.

Qatar is moving from “steel and concrete” to “sensing and cognition” as it accelerates its transformation into a smart nation.

According to a report by the TASMU Smart Qatar Programme, the initiative is advancing a nationwide digital transformation across key sectors such as environment, transport, and logistics, embedding smart technologies, data-driven civic services, and wellness infrastructure into the urban fabric.

Qatar continues to push the boundaries in smart infrastructure, integrating artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), sustainability, and wellness to transform living standards nationwide, said analysts.

According to Statista, Qatar’s AI market is projected to reach $567.10m (QR2.06bn) in 2025, growing at a remarkable 27.9 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2030 to nearly $1.94bn. Meanwhile, the IoT market is valued at $1.29bn this year and is expected to reach $4.43bn by decade-end, growing at a CAGR of 27.9 percent.

The index (NRI) examines the role of information and communication technologies (ICT) to drive economic productivity and social development in 144 countries.

Today a panel comprising the GCC ICT leaders was held under the title "How to Overcome eGovernment Challenges". The panel was chaired by Mr. Richard Kerby, Senior Inter-Regional Advisor on eGovernment, UNDESA; and included Engineer Ahmad Al-Kuwari, i-Gov Program Manager at ictQATAR, H.E Ali Mohamed Al-Shuraidah, Director General of the Central Agency for Information Technology in Kuwait, and Dr. Salim Sultan Al-Ruzaiki, CEO of Information Technology Authority in Oman.