Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – During the new Corona virus pandemic, the world achieved years of digital transformation within a few months, as cloud computing has become an integral part of work in all enterprises, especially emerging companies, with the aim of overcoming the challenges created by the repercussions of the current crisis.
As part of the Qatar National Vision 2030, the country is seeking to achieve a smart future through a comprehensive digital transformation, according to the official website of the Ministry of Transport and Communications in Qatar.
Small and medium startups are important as a major driver of innovation, a major supporter of the productive structure, and a pivotal tributary to promoting economic growth in the country.
An integral part of digital transformation
Credit: Microsoft
With this in mind, Microsoft, the world’s only cloud provider with a global cloud infrastructure in more than 60 regions across more than 140 countries, will launch a data center in Qatar in 2021, with the aim of providing cloud services that are consistent with the country’s goals and digital transformation.
Microsoft Qatar Director-General Lana Khalaf said during an interview with CNN in Arabic that through the data center, “developers, innovators, institutions and individuals will have the appropriate tools to achieve the elements of innovation, flexibility, and digital transformation to enable various sectors and forces.” Operating, and addressing important issues in terms of sustainability, emerging changes, and future challenges.
Credit: Microsoft
Khalaf explained that according to the International Data Corporation “IDC”, spending on public cloud services in Qatar is expected to nearly quadruple, to reach $ 228.6 million in 2024, while continuing investments in cloud technologies and increased usage of Cloud Solutions $ 3.14 billion in net new revenue from the public and private cloud over the next five years.
Credit: Microsoft
The IDC report also found that Microsoft’s partner ecosystem, along with cloud computing, will create more than 24,000 new jobs in Qatar by 2024.
Technology is accelerating the growth of startups
Credit: Mark Runnacles / Stringer
Microsoft is collaborating with Qatar-based tech enterprise company Nautica 360, through the “Microsoft for Startups” program, to support existing and new startups by enhancing access to the latest technologies, skills, and success in the economy. Digital world.
“Technology has become an enabler today,” Nautica 360 founder and general manager Tijinder Singh told CNN in Arabic, explaining that startups should take advantage of the fact that they have the flexibility to adapt faster due to the presence of less bureaucracy, unlike large organizations.
For her part, Khalaf explained that “the program will enable registered entrepreneurs to better harness technological innovations, help them bridge the skills gap, and pave the way for them to present their innovations faster to the market, allowing them to take their leading place in the competitive job market.”
Cloud services are leading the way in the world
The founding partner of the real estate site “Hapondo”, Abdullah Al-Fadala, considered that the main challenge facing startups now is to recover from the shock of the pandemic, and to find sustainable ways to work in the new world in which we currently live, explaining to CNN in Arabic that “knowing that we will have the infrastructure. The actual required to provide the best products and services is encouraging for us as a startup. “
The entrepreneur and founder of the two companies “Ibtikar” for digital solutions and “Else Labs”, Khaled Muhammad Abu Jusum, shared his opinion, as he told CNN in Arabic that “Innovative solutions based on cloud services are at the forefront of the global scene today. The presence of a cloud data center in Qatar is an addition to the system,” Movement in the right direction. “
Although the presence of this service attracts skills and stimulates the movement of creativity and innovation, startups from Abu Jassum’s point of view still need other elements as well, such as financing companies, and large capitalization that focuses on innovative projects.
