Qatar ICT4D National Policy

Date

2005

Country

Qatar

Region

Middle East

Policy Status

Policy adopted

Sectors

Civil Society, Economy, Education, Government, Health, Human Resource Development, Law, and Infrastructure

Subsectors

Civil Society - universal access, connectivity, public awareness, and local content development.

Economy - infrastructure, internet security and privacy, e-Commerce, legislation, e-tourism, facilities, networks, funding, standards, and small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) development.

Education - e-learning, infrastructure, connectivity, professional development, and content development.

Government - e-government, service delivery, modernisation, public awareness, effectiveness, infrastructure, and human resource development.

Health - e-health, infrastructure, information management systems, internet security and privacy, and electronic health networks.

Human Resource Development - innovation, research and development, digital divide, information and communication technology (ICT) literacy, and ICT training and skills development.

Law - legislation, regulation, privacy, security, law enforcement, infrastructure, standards.

Infrastructure - broadband development, universal access, connectivity, and networking.

Lead Organisation

Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQATAR)

Overview

This summary is part of a research project carried out between March and October 2006 in support of the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD), one of The Communication Initiative (The CI)'s partners.

ictQATAR was formed by royal decree in 2004 to be both a regulator and enabler of Qatar’s ICT sector. The National ICT Strategy was unveiled in May of 2005. The development of this policy was influenced by relevant international best practices and a comprehensive campaign to engage and dialogue with stakeholders in the public and private sector. It was designed to complement the socio-economic development goals of the State of Qatar.

The policy consists of twelve development programmes, including State-of-the-Art Infrastructure, Innovation and Capability Building, Regulatory and Legal Framework, Safety and Security, Connected Citizens, Connected Business, Connected Government, e-Education, e-Health, e-Finance, e-Tourism and Sports, and ICT in other Economic Sectors.

Contact

Elaine Farah

Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQATAR)

Tel: 974 4935918

Elaine@ict.gov.qa

Policy Objectives

The overall objective of the policy is to create an advanced information-based society that will improve the life of everyone in Qatar and will enhance the social and economic development of the country.

The specific objectives of the policy are to:

Foster Environment - Develop the market conditions, infrastructure and supporting legal and regulatory framework most conducive to ICT development;
Increase Readiness - Build awareness and reduce barriers to use of ICT by citizens, businesses, and government agencies;
Raise Usage - Increase internet usage among citizens, businesses and government agencies through targeted government policies which provide incentives and support the development of relevant content;
Sustain Impact - Continuously gauge progress, measure impact, and refine initiatives accordingly;
Target Early Results - Prioritise initiatives and secure quick-wins to sustain the momentum.

Strategies

Below are specific strategies to achieve the ICT policy objectives for each of the sub-sectors listed:

Business

Initially, ictQATAR will focus on providing incentives and subsidies to encourage SMEs to acquire ICT equipment. Later, the focus will shift to encouraging wider and more effective use of this technology, such as on-line services and transactions, information technology (IT) systems and tools, and business process technologies.

Citizenry

To begin with, ictQATAR will focus on providing incentives and subsidies to encourage households to purchase personal computers (PCs) and other access devices. Next, it will shift the focus to encouraging people to use on-line services.

e-Education

Education and learning are at the heart of Qatar’s vision of socio-economic development. ictQATAR aims to cultivate a learning environment that uses ICT best practices to deliver new learning opportunities in order to enable students, teachers and the general community to realise their full potential.

The e-education programme aims at installing and upgrading the infrastructure to connect all schools, universities and vocational centres to the broadband internet; harnessing best practices on how to use ICT infrastructure, applications, classroom teaching practices, and e-learning methodologies; promoting and supporting the development of educational digitised content, applications, and software, as well as the establishment of knowledge communities; supporting via promotion and/or funding, the installation of infrastructure necessary to provide internet access to all primary and intermediary schools, both public and private; upgrading all existing connections and infrastructure to provide broadband access via the available technologies; training teachers in ICT skills and capabilities; sponsoring the promotion, development and purchase of digital content, applications, and software; sponsoring and promoting the development and connectivity of e-learning and knowledge community portals and databases; and, providing incentives/awards to developers to design and develop such portals and databases.

The e-education programme has already established a number of ICT initiatives that include the School Net initiative, in which the ICT infrastructure of schools, universities and vocational centres has been expanded; and the School Knowledge Net initiative, in which schools, universities, and vocational training centres have been interconnected and provided with connectivity to local and international knowledge resources such as libraries, cultural websites etc. Also, local and international communities of knowledge have been established in order to promote the sharing of educational best practices between educational staff, content developers, museums, cultural centres, and other stakeholders.

Finance

The first priority for ictQATAR will be to establish a secure and reliable financial services infrastructure for e-commerce, including the promotion of an Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) platform.

e-Government

Building on the efforts of the current e-Government project, ictQATAR will further the delivery of services and information online, as well as lead a government modernisation effort to address IT systems and tools, process improvement technology, as well as change management.

e-Health

The main feature of ictQATAR’s e-health programme is the development and implementation of the Electronic Health Card for all citizens and residents. This technology will increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the healthcare system. To begin with, ictQATAR will promote the implementation of the standardisation of health records and the creation of the Electronic Patient Record. Subsequently, the focus will shift to providing on-line healthcare information and services through portals and applications, with an aim to adapt existing network facilities and build-out new ones to connect all relevant points of care and emergency response. ictQATAR will also launch awareness campaigns and provide information to address privacy and security concerns regarding this technology. Finally, ictQATAR will support the expansion of current network facilities to allow for point-to-point connectivity of all relevant healthcare stake holders and other institutions, including public and private hospitals, clinics, laboratories and national emergency centres. This integrated health network (IHN) will be the underlying backbone for the implementation of the Electronic Patient Record.

Infrastructure

ictQATAR will promote the expansion of broadband telecommunications networks to provide universal broadband internet access, ensure that access to the appropriate bandwidth is within physical and financial reach of all citizens, and guarantee coverage and quality for the various types of communications technologies.

Innovation and Capacity Building

From the onset, ictQATAR will focus on developing human capital across all demographic groups in order to create a highly ICT capable society and workforce that is ready to harness the power and opportunities of ICT and to exploit local and global innovations in content, applications, and software.

Legal and Regulatory

ictQATAR will adapt existing laws to address any issues raised by new technologies in order to establish an advanced, forward looking legal and regulatory framework that is able to facilitate the development of Qatar’s Information Society.

Safety and Security

In order to safe-guard against cyber attacks, mitigate damage when it does occur and ensure a rapid recovery, ictQATAR will establish a collaborative industry-and-government-wide security strategy that will include a Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), redundancy for critical facilities to manage crises and establish business resilience, and encourage best security practices.

Tourism and Sports

The main development priority is to install fast and reliable internet access, as well as high speed and secure links for broadcasting facilities, in order to make Qatar the leading tourism and sporting centre in the region. Next, is to encourage use by developing special purpose portals and e-Commerce applications for tourist zones and stadiums.

Other Sectors

It is the objective of ictQATAR to help the Government maintain and reinforce the competitive advantage of Qatar’s world-leading industries, such as oil and gas, through superior ICT-enabled standards and processes.