Qatar has committed in developing a digital strategy for a more resilient, sustainable, safe and smart nation in alignment with UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum 2022.
The inauguration ceremony of the WSIS Forum 2022 with the participation of Qatar as the golden sponsor started virtually on March 15 and will culminate with the final week on May 30 to June 3, which will take place physically at the ITU Headquarters in Geneva. Mr. Houlin Zhao, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union, delivered the opening remarks.
Ms. Mashael Ali Yousef Al Hammadi, Acting Assistant Undersecretary of Government Information Technology Affairs at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), discussed the plans that Qatar has for WSIS Forum.
Mashael Ali Yousef Al Hammadi Acting Assistant Undersecretary Government IT Affairs Qatar MCIT
“International forums should continue to highlight the importance of UN SDGs as this ensures that we are all moving in the same direction. The WSIS Forum is a major international event that highlights the importance of SDGs through IT initiatives and projects. Together with ICT, the relevant policies and services are adopted across all sectors such as education, healthcare, and sports to achieve the key development milestone and result in the social, environment and economic prosperity.”
In the education sector, Qatar has made good use of material and human assets. It has also worked in improving its infrastructure in providing better training to accelerate progress in this sector in alignment with the four SDG goals which are quality education.
Ms. Al Hammadi also stressed the development of the sports sector, including eight amazing stadiums that will be hosting the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and each one is an example of how cloud computing is important in providing the necessary linkage. These sports facilities follow the UN SDGs to a great extent and the stadiums also ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all by using up to 40 percent less energy than international benchmarks.
Being a forum that hosts governments and as well as NGOs private institutions, WSIS is well-positioned to provide recommendations that tackle Qatar’s issues from a multi-channel which is a collective approach that includes the private sector, public sector and academia.
