Adopting transformational technology is becoming a necessity for the small and medium-sized (SME) sector to elevate its contribution to the economy, an expert at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) has said.
Speaking at a recently held online forum, Yazen al-Safi, adviser for Digital Industry Development at MCIT, emphasised that SMEs are considered as a key to ensuring economic growth and fostering innovation, in addition to being the backbone of Qatar’s economy.
The forum titled ‘Big Data: How can SMEs Benefit from Big Data, Best Practices, Policies, & Show Cases’ was organised by MCIT, in collaboration with the UN Economic and Social Commission for West Asia (ESCWA).
Dr Haidar Fraihat, leader of Statistics, Information Society & Technology Cluster at ESCWA delivered the welcome address. The first session on ‘Big Data Concepts, Policies, Readiness Assessment was delivered by Dr Nawar al-Awa, regional adviser on Technology for Development at ESCWA, while the second session titled ‘Big Data Applications and Frameworks’ was led by Ahmed al-Awah, ICT Section chief at ESCWA, and Roaa al-Feel of ESCWA’s ICT Section.
According to al-Safi, the MCIT’s digital forums this year have been focusing on the role and the benefits of digital transformation and cloud adoption for SMEs in terms of renovating their business model, optimising their costs, and adding agility to their operations.
“The fourth edition of our digital forums, which will be the last one for this year, is dedicated to data and since they are the foundation of every system, they create a minimum societal or economic added value.
“However, we can maximise their value after combining and turning them into information and then knowledge with the means of enrichment and contextualisation, thus data and big data analytics is considered as the centrepiece for SME digital transformation since combining and analysing the enterprise data with other sources will enable SMEs to discover many new possibilities for adding value to the customers with better products and services,” al-Safi stressed.
Al-Safi said: “This forum is about our new reality that is leading comprehensive changes in all areas of our society. Therefore, we would like to urge our SMEs and entrepreneurs to benefit from today’s presentations and capture the experience of our distinguished speakers to transform their businesses and harness technology to deliver new value to our society for a better tomorrow.”
Mohamed al-Assi, DTSME project manager at MCIT, added: “The development of SMEs and their role in digital transformation is certainly an essential element in contributing to building a knowledge-based economy and achieving the Qatar National Vision 2030. The MCIT is committed to achieving the goals of this vision.
“The DTSME programme encourages SMEs to use Information Technology and raise awareness on the benefits of using modern technology in the business sector. From the beginning of the programme, more than 3,000 SMEs have participated and over 1,000 have digitally transformed through more than 300 workshops.”
Speaking at a recently held online forum, Yazen al-Safi, adviser for Digital Industry Development at MCIT, emphasised that SMEs are considered as a key to ensuring economic growth and fostering innovation, in addition to being the backbone of Qatar’s economy.
The forum titled ‘Big Data: How can SMEs Benefit from Big Data, Best Practices, Policies, & Show Cases’ was organised by MCIT, in collaboration with the UN Economic and Social Commission for West Asia (ESCWA).
Dr Haidar Fraihat, leader of Statistics, Information Society & Technology Cluster at ESCWA delivered the welcome address. The first session on ‘Big Data Concepts, Policies, Readiness Assessment was delivered by Dr Nawar al-Awa, regional adviser on Technology for Development at ESCWA, while the second session titled ‘Big Data Applications and Frameworks’ was led by Ahmed al-Awah, ICT Section chief at ESCWA, and Roaa al-Feel of ESCWA’s ICT Section.
According to al-Safi, the MCIT’s digital forums this year have been focusing on the role and the benefits of digital transformation and cloud adoption for SMEs in terms of renovating their business model, optimising their costs, and adding agility to their operations.
“The fourth edition of our digital forums, which will be the last one for this year, is dedicated to data and since they are the foundation of every system, they create a minimum societal or economic added value.
“However, we can maximise their value after combining and turning them into information and then knowledge with the means of enrichment and contextualisation, thus data and big data analytics is considered as the centrepiece for SME digital transformation since combining and analysing the enterprise data with other sources will enable SMEs to discover many new possibilities for adding value to the customers with better products and services,” al-Safi stressed.
Al-Safi said: “This forum is about our new reality that is leading comprehensive changes in all areas of our society. Therefore, we would like to urge our SMEs and entrepreneurs to benefit from today’s presentations and capture the experience of our distinguished speakers to transform their businesses and harness technology to deliver new value to our society for a better tomorrow.”
Mohamed al-Assi, DTSME project manager at MCIT, added: “The development of SMEs and their role in digital transformation is certainly an essential element in contributing to building a knowledge-based economy and achieving the Qatar National Vision 2030. The MCIT is committed to achieving the goals of this vision.
“The DTSME programme encourages SMEs to use Information Technology and raise awareness on the benefits of using modern technology in the business sector. From the beginning of the programme, more than 3,000 SMEs have participated and over 1,000 have digitally transformed through more than 300 workshops.”
