Director of the GCO and Chairman of the Permanent Web Summit Organising Committee H E Sheikh Jassim bin Mansour bin Jabor Al Thani and Vice President and General Manager of Snap Inc MENA Hussein Freijehl during the signing of the MoU.
Doha: The Government Communications Office (GCO) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Snap Inc. to launch the first Augmented Reality Academy in the MENA region, during Web Summit Qatar 2025, which runs until February 26 at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center (DECC).
The Academy builds on the GCO’s commitment to upskilling local media and communications talent, with a focus on the digital and creative content industry, in line with the Third National Development Strategy.
Speaking at the MoU signing ceremony, H E Sheikh Jassim bin Mansour bin Jabor Al Thani, Director of the GCO and Chairman of the Permanent Web Summit Organising Committee, said: “We are delighted to partner with Snap to launch the first Augmented Reality Academy in the MENA region. This innovative initiative will create exceptional opportunities for the youth, businesses and content creators across the board. This milestone reflects our dedication to equipping the next generation of creators with the essential tools and skills needed to thrive in our digitalised world.
He continued, “This academy represents a crucial investment in talent development, digital education and the creative economy. It will deliver specialised training programmes that help participants discover and leverage cutting-edge augmented reality innovations. This initiative supports our long-term vision of transforming Qatar into a regional hub for digital excellence and strengthening our economic sustainability, in alignment with Qatar’s National Vision 2030.” Hussein Freijeh, Vice President and General Manager of Snap Inc. MENA, said, Our partnership with Qatar and the GCO started two years ago. Today is something that we’re very happy about we’re able to sign an agreement that allows us to build our developer community not only within Qatar, but also in the region and the globe.” The Academy will provide a wide range of opportunities, programmes and digital tools that will enable current and future generations of creators and developers in Qatar to unleash their creativity and create interactive experiences using augmented reality.
Augmented reality technology plays a vital role in improving the visual communication experience and enhancing users’ interactions with their surrounding environment, supporting the health, education and training systems and improving the efficiency of industrial processes, marketing and sales and other various applications. Snap Inc. is a pioneer of augmented reality technologies, with more than 300 million people currently using its technology on Snapchat, and more than 85 percent of daily users in the MENA region using Snap lenses.
This MoU builds on the GCO’s strong partnership with Snap Inc. It follows a list of strategic collaborations between the GCO and global digital platforms, including Google, TikTok, Amazon Ads and iHeartMedia, which aim to drive the digital ecosystem and develop the creator industry. These partnerships further consolidate Qatar’s position as a leading regional centre for technology and innovation, in line with its National Vision 2030.
