Google Cloud announced a series of new agreements with government agencies, economic trade groups, and local businesses in Qatar – underpinning the company’s continued support of the country as it accelerates its digital transformation with cloud technologies in line with the National Vision 2030.
Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, visited the country and met with a consortium of high-level officials leading Qatar’s digital transformation roadmap and propelling the adoption of digital and cloud technologies across several sectors. During his visit, Kurian met with leaders from various sectors driving Qatar’s digital transformation, including; H.E. Sheikh Khalid Bin AbdulAziz Al Thani, Prime Minister of the State of Qatar; H.E. Sheikh Bandar Bin Mohammed Bin Saoud Al-Thani, Governor of the Qatar Central Bank, H.E. Mohammed Al Mannai, Minister of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), H.E. Ahmad Al Sayed, Minister of State & Chairman of Qatar Free Zones Authority (QFZA).
In addition, Kurian also met with private sector leaders contributing to Qatar’s digital transformation including Aziz Fakhroo, CEO of Ooredoo Qatar; Omar Al Fardan, Founder and Chairman of Al Fardan Group.
These meetings helped result in the signing of several agreements that will help organizations innovate and adapt to rapidly changing customer expectations, while also equipping the local workforce with the digital skills.
From the various high-level meetings that took place, Kurian and H.E. Sheikh Khalid Bin Abdul Aziz Al Thani, Prime Minister of the State of Qatar, discussed areas of collaboration that can accelerate the government’s digital transformation plans, through building a data driven decision making culture across all government entities and industries.
The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT) awarded the framework agreement of cloud computing services for the government sector to Google Cloud, to accelerate digital transformation in the State of Qatar, in line with Qatar’s National Vision 2030 to digitize government services in the country. The Qatari government is going to leverage the
latest Google Cloud technologies, which includes artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), infrastructure and application modernization, and unique industry solutions to boost innovation in the country.
Commenting on the visit, Kurian said: “We are seeing an increase in adoption of cloud technologies as more organizations in Qatar experience the opportunity and growth that comes with digital transformation. We are immensely proud to partner with Qatari businesses and organizations as they solve today’s most complex challenges, and we look forward to working closely with them to drive tomorrow’s growth.”
Additionally, based on their existing strategic collaboration agreement, Google Cloud and the Qatar Free Zone Authority (QFZ) signed a supplementary agreement that supports discussions on how QFZ can use Google Cloud solutions to develop a smart free zone operation. The MOU also provides further details regarding the opening of Google Cloud’s Center of Excellence at QFZs offices in Qatar. The center launched virtually in June 2021 and has trained over 3,000 participants in cloud skills – acting as a catalyst in the upskilling of Qatar’s digital workforce. The new location of the center will open its doors to participants in Qatar interested in becoming certified cloud digital leaders and will offer courses to the community for free.
Al Fardan Group – a conglomerate of top businesses covering a wide range of industries and sectors in the region, has partnered with Google Cloud to support the Group’s digital transformation and revolutionize its business processes through implementing cloud technologies. Alfardan’s vision of excellence will put Google technology and innovation at the service of its premium business delivery. Google Cloud will also support the Group’s digital transformation to revolutionize its business processes by leveraging the latest AI and data analytics solutions.
Ooredoo Group discussed a new agreement with Google Cloud during the visit to utilize Apigee–Google Cloud’s API development and management platform–across applications run by all of its operating companies in Qatar, Indonesia, Algeria, Tunisia, Oman, Kuwait, Palestine, Iraq, and the Maldives. The roll out of Apigee will be a new milestone in Ooredoo’s digital transformation journey, as it has recently implemented Google Cloud’s Contact Center AI solution to improve the customer service experience and streamline the millions of calls the telecommunications provider manages on a daily basis, ahead of the upcoming World Cup 2022 in Qatar.
A memorandum of understanding was also signed between the Qatar Financial Center Authority (QFC) and Google Cloud to launch a new digital platform for fintechs and financial institutions. Once the platform rolls out, more than 70 fintech companies operating under QFC, will have access to Google Cloud technologies, empowering financial services companies operating under the QFC umbrella to innovate, build, run and showcase their products on Google Cloud.
Lastly, the visit to Qatar concluded with an executive roundtable attended by a group of industry decision makers, who discussed the strategies that can propel Qatar’s digital transformation. The roundtable had representatives from regulatory bodies and industries such as: retail, media, financial services, telecommunications, utilities, transport, and public sector.
Google Cloud has previously announced the intent to open a cloud region in Qatar and has been growing its presence in the country by helping customers in their digital transformation journeys. According to Alphabeta Economics, Qatar can unlock USD 39 billion of economic impact by 2030 through the adoption of digital technologies enabled by the cloud.
