Qatar Cities Go High-tech—A significant focus for Qatar is investments in smart cities infrastructure and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), smart mobility, and cleantech. Qatar Free Zones Authority (QFZA) is focused on its business development efforts to attract, partner, and invest in global enterprises to construct technological clusters to help achieve the country’s goals discussed by experts during an online event.
Business leaders from the United States and Qatar met virtually for an event titled “Qatar Smart Cities Tech Opportunities Driving its Sustainable Future,” organized by the US-Qatar Business Council (USQBC) and the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.
As a result, we learned more about how QFZA works with international companies to commercialize their innovative city applications and sustainable technology in Qatar and elsewhere.
Addressing the event, Hamad Al Mohannadi, Business Development Manager at Qatar Free Zones Authority, presented Qatar Free Zones Authority and the new technology showcasing smart cities and prospects that arise in the innovative city sector inside Qatar.
Aiming to provide long-term solutions for businesses while also supporting Qatar’sQatar’s continuous growth and economic diversification, he explained that “the free zones commenced operating in 2019.”
Qatar has an open cloud environment, and the country’scountry’s world-class data infrastructure plays a vital role in the global data economy, allowing technology enterprises to have access to flexible data products and services.” As the cloud market grows, QFZA has designed a cloud-centric ICT strategy to support and accelerate this growth with services backed by the best-in-class data and intellectual property rules, guaranteeing that the business is safeguarded.
On the other hand, “Qatar has a wide range of ICT sectors that can be tapped for business prospects,” he said. These include smart city and mobility solutions, education; healthcare; media; sports; AI/Machine learning, and cyber security/blockchain.
Msheireb Downtown, a $5.5bn mixed-use area encompassing 31,000 square meters, and Lusail Metropolis, a $45bn smart city covering 38 square kilometers, are now being created in Qatar, according to Al Mohannadi.
Clean energy, intelligent transportation, and environmentally friendly logistics are top priorities for Qatar, which is now electrifying its public transit system and plans to be electric by 2030.
He continued, “As a result of Qatar’sQatar’s smart city development, businesses can profit from a variety of opportunities across the smart city supply chain,” such as “mobility, urban planning, energy and environment, security and control social and public services, smart governance,” he added.
As Al Mohannadi explained, Qatar is ideally suited. It is leading in developing advanced mobility, highlighting that QFZA is a platform to host the latest technologies in advanced mobility, such as autonomous logistics, delivery units and trucks, shuttles and electric passenger vehicles, and electric buses.
”QFZA offers a wide selection of home and land plot alternatives with brand new infrastructure.” In addition to custom-built facilities, industrial warehouses, serviced land, state-of-the-art offices, and plug-and-play facilities, our free zones offer a wide range of options, he said.
CEO of Doha Venture Capital Mohammed Hussain Al Abdulla spoke about ”Investing in high growth and innovative firms to build Qatar’sQatar’s future.”
According to him, there are many funding opportunities available in Qatar, and one of them is a 100% subsidiary of the free zone called Doha Venture Capital. In addition to being an economic development fund, we’re also a worldwide investor, so we have a dual mandate.” There is a lot of discussion about how to positively impact Qatar and the free zone by focusing on manufacturing-related technology enterprises in the growth stage. Our focus sectors are Agritech and FoodTech, CleanTech, Freight and logistics, BioTech and HealthTech and medical devices, and we look at different strategic opportunities.”
Speaking about the worldwide investment, he added, “We invest in firms globally such as corporations within the US, SMEs, and growth-stage initiatives whereby those companies want to come to our region and create a regional center to function and service the Mena region. We offer companies long-term finance, as well as help and introductions to various stakeholders in Qatar, as part of our value package,” he said.
In his role as moderator, Mohammed Barakat, the USQBC’sUSQBC’s Managing Director and Treasurer, talked about the importance of the US-Qatar commercial partnership.
Smart Qatar Cities: What is a Smart City?
According to IBM, the concept of a smart city is a city that “makes the best use of all the interconnected information available today to understand better and regulate its operations and optimizes the use of limited resources,” although there are many more definitions.
An information and communication technology (ICT) framework is used to construct, deploy, and promote sustainable development methods to address urban difficulties while establishing a cohesive and technologically equipped infrastructure. The Internet of Things (IoT) is used in conjunction with a range of software, user interfaces, and communication networks in smart cities to provide the public with linked solutions. The Internet of Things (IoT) is the most critical of the bunch. An IoT network is a collection of connected devices that exchange information. Vehicles, home appliances, and on-street sensors are all examples of this. These devices’devices’ acquired data is kept in the cloud or on servers, allowing public and private sector efficiency to be improved and economic benefits to citizens.
The usage of edge computing by many IoT devices ensures that only the most relevant and significant data is transmitted via the communication network.. The intelligent city network is also protected, monitored, and controlled by a security system that prevents unauthorized access to the IoT network of the city’s data platform. Thanks to the IoT, automation, machine learning, and other IoT components, a wide range of innovative city applications can be implemented. Smart parking, for example, can assist cars in finding a parking spot and allow for digital payment.
Additionally, a smart city infrastructure can handle intelligent traffic management and ride-sharing services, which can monitor traffic flows and optimize traffic lights to alleviate congestion.
Energy conservation and environmental efficiencies are intelligent city elements, such as dimming lamps when the roads are empty. These innovative grid technologies may significantly impact operations maintenance and planning of the power supply.
Using internet-enabled garbage collection, bins, and fleet management systems, smart cities can battle climate change and air pollution and trash management and sanitation.
Monitoring crime hotspots and utilizing sensors to predict natural disasters like flooding and landslides are just some of the additional services that smart cities offer.
In addition to real-time space management and structural health monitoring and reporting, intelligent buildings may detect when repairs are needed. Besides reporting potholes, citizens can also use this method to alert officials of infrastructure issues, such as water leakage.
Innovative city technologies can improve the efficiency of manufacturing, urban farming, energy use, and more.
All kinds of services can be linked together in intelligent cities to give citizens with integrated solutions.
