Doha, Qatar: Qatar is moving in the right direction as it continues to see digital transformation as part of the National Vision 2030 and the country is also a key player in global digital transformation.
Speaking to The Peninsula on the sidelines of the Web Summit Qatar 2024, Anatoly Motkin, President of StrategEast said, “We will see more than digital transformation in Qatar and see the country as a part and key player in global digital transformation.”
Commenting on the address of Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar regarding the announcement of $1bn fund to foster local and regional entrepreneurs during the opening of Web Summit, Motkin said “I think it was clear message to all public and private sector representatives that for Qatar now and on, the IT industry would become one of the most important strategic direction of development and the country will a pass the digital transformation.”
By hosting FIFA World Cup, the country proved that any global problem could be resolved like climatic challenge and it is able to do anything but for digital transformation it is a process. It’s not only showing the global ability, but also being part of global processes along with the global digital superpowers and in just a matter of time Qatar would close this gap.
Speaking about the startup ecosystem in Qatar, he said it is just at the very beginning and the best way how Qatar could achieve significant results is by attracting start ups from global pipeline, especially from countries from Central Asia and Caucasus who are in the same time zone to soft land in Qatar to create all necessary conditions. He added, “I think that in one to two years, we will get significant results that could be demonstrated, and also Qatar will get all the necessary talent and knowledge.
Motkin further said, thanks to the trans-regional collaborations including the Central Asian-Caucasus that is for Qatar to be involved in other regions could become a benefit, not only obtaining new and cutting edge technologies, but also to become a global influencer and also to develop a third digital hub across with US centric and the China centric - a new hub that will create a digital single market of Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Gulf.
“It’s interesting to see what could be the synergies between the Gulf entrepreneurial aspirations, specifically Qatar and the global tech industry. I think that it’s important that the leading international IT development platform as Web Summit was launched in Qatar.”
Explaining regarding AI developments in Qatar, Motkin noted that it’s just the beginning of the working process and each panel that was held during this forum is the beginning of process when people from Qatar, other countries of the Gulf and the global tech companies can start a process of joint work.
