Qatar’s digital landscape is securing all-time high investments, especially in cloud computing and Microsoft Azure Qatar’s national framework is set to create opportunities for more than $3.1 billion new revenue for the country over the next five years, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
Driven by a strong ambition to continue developing local talent and capabilities, Qatar has taken strong steps to increase supply chain localization like encouraging joint ventures with global firms, leveraging the natural resources and creating a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, said the report.
Qatar’s investment drive in the digital sector is in line with its efforts to implement the country’s digital transformation agenda and build a knowledge-based economy, said the report.
Both Google and Microsoft are expanding their cloud services offerings to the country. Google Cloud offers companies with infrastructure, platform capabilities and industry solutions to reinvent their business with data-powered innovation using modern computing infrastructure.
Last year, Google signed a “strategic” collaboration agreement to launch its inaugural Google Cloud region in the Middle East in Doha. “The region is set to allow Google’s global customers and partners to run their workloads locally,” the EIU report said.
Earlier, in 2019, the Qatari government had entered into a strategic partnership with Microsoft to establish a regional cloud data center in the country to deliver its cloud services and expand its global cloud infrastructure to new markets.
Three Microsoft Azure cloud data centers are set to start operating in Qatar in 2022, allowing individuals and organizations to access cloud services, and facilitating their digital transformation.
According to Microsoft, the Azure Qatar national framework is set to create opportunities amounting to over $3.1 billion of new revenue for the country over the next five years and establish Qatar’s position as a digital hub.
The public cloud market in the GCC is expected to more than double in value to $2.35 billion in 2024, the report stated, quoting International Data Corporation. Globally, governments, particularly in the Gulf, are increasingly investing in their digital infrastructure and in making their cities smart.
