Qatar is witnessing a growing demand for skilled cybersecurity professionals amid the rapid advancement of modern technologies, which is playing a critical role in the country’s digital transformation efforts, the Investment Promotion Agency Qatar (IPA Qatar) has said in a report.
Qatar has seen “dramatic growth” in its digital economy alongside the progress witnessed by its neighbours in the region, IPA Qatar stated in ‘Securing the Digital Future: Investment Insights and Opportunities’, a joint report in collaboration with Microsoft and EY-Parthenon.
According to the report, Qatar’s massive investments in digitisation, including digital security, were reflected in the delivery of multi-billion dollar mega projects and the country’s hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
“Qatar’s commitment to enhancing the nation’s cybersecurity and digital space, including ambitious strategies and policy tools, have shaped a resilient cyber ecosystem and present compelling market opportunities for foreign investors.
“The nation provides foreign investors with a valuable and competitive business climate, with a variety of resources. Qatar offers a stable and resilient economy, a vibrant knowledge eco-system, seamless market access and connectivity, and a pro-business climate,” the report stated.
The report stated that the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) established various initiatives in partnership with Microsoft to meet the rising need for trained and skilled professionals.
These initiatives include the MCIT’s launching of the ‘National Skilling Programme’, in collaboration with Microsoft, which aims to train 50,000 people across all demographics by 2025. Qatar’s investment in national skilling for cybersecurity is seen to protect the country against threats and spur economic development, the report stated.
In March 2022, HE the Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mohamed bin Ali al-Mannai led the National Skilling Programme’s launch ceremony, which coincided with the opening ceremony of the first-of-its-kind in the region Digital Centre of Excellence at Msheireb Downtown Doha.
“The Digital Centre of Excellence is part of the National Skilling Programme, in partnership with Elev8, and expands the joint efforts of the MCIT and Microsoft to create a highly-skilled workforce for a rapidly growing, diversifying, and technologically advanced economy in line with Qatar National Vision 2030.
“The centre is expected to play a key role in building the talent pool that will help accelerate the digital transformation of government institutions and private sector companies in Qatar,” the MCIT earlier stated.
Aside from the programme, the report stated that other national skilling initiatives include the ‘Erada Internship Programme’, which supports and accelerates employability through internships, on-the-job training, and digital skilling programme opportunities; the ‘Qatar Digital Government Training Programme’, which strengthens professional capabilities and skills of national cadres and employees in the IT field; ‘Women Technopreneurs’, which empowers young women to innovate, lead, and succeed in an increasingly digital world; and the ‘Imagine Cup’, Microsoft’s premier student technology and innovation competition.
“Combined with skilled talent and policy frameworks, Qatar’s cybersecurity capabilities have been enhanced with the establishment of effective infrastructure and technologies.
Cloud-enabled technologies that are offered by in-country data centres in Qatar play a crucial role in helping organisations defend against modern cyber threats while meeting regulatory requirements,” the report stated.
According to the report, the Microsoft cloud region in Qatar will empower customers across industries with the most trusted and secure cloud platform.
“Qatar has reaped extensive benefits from the establishment of Microsoft’s cloud data centre, which contributes to enhancing the nation’s economic diversification goals. Over the next four years, Microsoft and its ecosystem of partners and cloud-using customers are expected to drive investment in the economy, create new jobs, and reduce the emission of atmospheric carbon,” the report stated.
