Dr. Adnan Abu-Dayya, Executive Director at Qatar Mobility Innovations Center (QMIC)
Doha: Qatar will witness significant phase of expansion in technology-centric business opportunities that will further gain momentum in 2023, beyond a successful FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, said a senior official during a virtual event organised by US-Qatar Business Council (USQBC) recently.
Dr. Adnan Abu-Dayya, Executive Director at Qatar Mobility Innovations Center (QMIC) discussed the smart mobility partnership between Qatar Mobility Innovations Center and California Mobility Center, and how Qatar is working to boost its commercial ties with the State of California during the California-Qatar Smart Technology Business Opportunities webinar.
Abu-Dayya said: “The objective of QMIC is how to utilise research and development to develop and deliver smart solutions that support the country especially in terms of the national strategy in terms of the mega projects of Qatar.We are always on the lookout for partnerships that can further our strategy in terms of building and delivering innovations whether in Qatar or outside”.
Speaking about areas of opportunities for collaboration between California companies and QMIC, Abu-Dayya pointed that in terms of mobility globally there are certain trends that are common all over the world in terms of smart mobility, integrated mobility, autonomous mobility, and shared mobility. When it comes to Qatar, there are two stages including ‘up to 2022’ (FIFA World Cup) which is the end of this year in terms of collaboration, and business opportunities beyond 2022.
“Going beyond 2022 there is going to be another significant phase of expansion and other opportunities that will open and one of the areas is the expansion of the infrastructure in the country. Although we have made significant progress in putting the roads, highways, rail network, Hamad Airport but there is going to be an expansion stage for many of these initiatives, especially Qatar Rail that is the road network is needed to be expanded even further. So, from physical infrastructure viewpoint the target is by 2030 to achieve lots of objectives in terms of the quality and sustainability and many initiatives that we have,” he said.
Regarding electrification, he noted that Qatar has committed to have a quarter of the bus fleet using electric buses by the end of this year. “We have made significant progress in terms of putting smart services, digital infrastructure but there is a lot more work to be done in terms of artificial intelligence, layers to automate integrated transport and mobility system,” said Abu-Dayya.
He added: “Another area that is going to pick up speed beyond January of next year is area of connected and automated mobility. We have been working on the connected mobility space in terms of vehicle to vehicle, vehicle to infrastructure kind of communication.
"And we have been leading in the region in this technology going through research and development, and have run first country level pilot in the region. So, I expect that to pick up speed and taking it further for deployment which will create many opportunities. There are many opportunities that will start picking up in 2023, beyond a successful World Cup. There is significant chance of opportunity from technology centric business opportunities. We can partner to create opportunities where we can create ventures that go beyond Qatar to the region through this kind of partnership," Abu-Dayya concluded.
Mark Rawson, Chief Operating Officer of California Mobility Center said that California continues to be the epicentre for progressive public policy to promote the advancement of future mobility particularly in the zero-emission vehicle space.
“The State has aligned its policies with investments that the state is making to secure deployment of these technologies. Beyond that a lot of the companies are also looking for opportunities to prove their commercial viability here and take those technologies in other parts of the world that have similar or aligned policy objectives to the State of California. This is part of the reason that we are very excited to enter this relationship with QMIC because there is very close alignment to their and our mission and we see it as an excellent opportunity to both provide input into Qatar’s market in the smart cities and future mobility space but likewise help QMIC and their mission export solutions out of Qatar into California and other markets,” said Rawson.
Emily Desai, Deputy Director of International Affairs and Trade at the Governor of California’s Office of Business and Economic Development said: “California and Qatar have strong synergies and significant opportunity to grow and deepen our economic ties. Qatar is a leading technology hub in Gulf and is continuously seeking to further partnerships and investment opportunities to solidify that technological expertise. This presents clear and tangible opportunities for California businesses. Our state already exports $150m in goods to Qatar, more than $46m of those products are computers and electronic products, another $22m was aerospace products, a sector in which California has deep roots and substantial expertise. California imports more than $30m from Qatar. So, there is real opportunity to grow that bilateral trade and relationship.”
