Doha
Ooredoo Qatar has joined the Smart Cities Council as lead partner during the ongoing ITU Telecom World 2014 at the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC).
The council is a leading industry coalition formed to accelerate the move to smart, sustainable cities.
Ooredoo joins global leaders in the smart cities sector, including IBM, Microsoft, MasterCard, and Cisco, who have committed to provide the next generation of services to Qatar’s expanding smart cities business and technology sector.
Ooredoo Qatar chief operating officer Waleed al-Sayed said, “Working with the Smart Cities Council is an important step for Ooredoo and shows that we are making great strides in strengthening our leadership role in the smart cities arena and contributing to the Qatar National Vision 2030 of transforming Qatar into an advanced digital country with smart citizens and a sustainable economy.”
Smart Cities Council chairman Jesse Berst said, “Ooredoo is focused on making Qatar one of the best connected countries in the world and providing the most innovative services in its region. We are delighted that Ooredoo has joined the council and look forward to leveraging its expertise to further the smart cities movement in Qatar.”
Ooredoo has said it is already working with a number of leading enterprises in Qatar to support the development of smart cities in the country and has signed a strategic alliance with KT Corporation of Korea to introduce new concepts and innovations.
The company is also working with Qatar’s prestige mega-projects from conception to ensure that there is capacity to introduce smart technology at every stage.
The “smart city” concept is central to the long-term development vision of Qatar, placing technology at the heart of new projects to enable a smart economy, smart mobility, cleaner environment, and smart governance.
Lusail Real Estate Development Company (LREDC) CEO Essa Kaldari said, “We have envisioned Lusail City as being one of the foremost fully-integrated smart cities in the region. Ooredoo’s partnership with the Smart Cities Council and having Ooredoo as our Smart city partner gives us a lot of confidence that we will achieve our objective and allow Lusail residents to enjoy the highest standard of smart living possible.”
Typically, these developments integrate urban construction with “software” such as medical care, security, architecture, and green technology.
Ooredoo has recently introduced a host of cutting-edge Ooredoo Machine to Machine (M2M) services to Qatar, enabling companies to connect business assets directly with each other or with a central command centre, removing the need for human involvement, and introducing all new solutions directly into people’s homes.
As lead partner in the Smart Cities Council, Ooredoo said it will have the opportunity to aid the direction of the emerging smart cities sector in Qatar, the region, and across the world. The company will also contribute to the Smart Cities Council’s body of knowledge including city tools and resources, mentoring and workshops.