Last week, Qatar University (QU) and Msheireb Properties signed an agreement to come up with projects that aim to contribute to Doha’s Smart City aspirations. With this agreement, QU and Msheireb Properties will collaborate to come up with Smart City focused researches and ideas. The memorandum of understanding between the two parties was primarily signed by Prof Mariam Ali Al Maadeed, QU Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies and Mohammad Essa Al Boainin, Msheireb Properties’ Acting Chief Officer for Design and Delivery.
This new update reveals Qatar’s desire to become a Smart Nation, so much so that it is investing heavily on coming up with smart solutions and utilizing its best young minds to do so. Through a smart city, the way people think about what it means to live in an urban setting will change drastically. The country acknowledges that in order to press forward, it needs to be in the forefront of innovation and technological savvy.
Why Qatar is the Nation of the Future
1. Modernization at the Capital
The value of Qatar’s shipping lines cannot be underestimated; the nation has around 25 billion barrels of reserved oil, and each day it produces 1.72 billion barrels during the year 2017. Oil export is a major contributor to Qatar’s GDP. However, Qatar understands that it needs to find other means for growth, and to do so it needs to employ modernization in all aspects of urban living, including communication networks, sustainable utilities and facilities and more.
2. Lusail City
Lusail City is just 15 kilometers away from the capital city of Doha. Lusail City started becoming a smart city back in 2005. This city will be high-tech, switched on, and has both wireless and wired communication technologies. The city has an LCCC, or the Lusail Command and Control Center at the middle. This command and data center is the heart of a centralized monitoring system where all services that a smart city needs is taken cared of. As a smart city, Lusail City emphasized energy conservation, and people living in the city will have homes that track energy consumption through digital displays.
3. Msheireb Downtown Doha
Msheireb Downtown Doha is the world’s first sustainable downtown, and is dubbed to provide the very best of contemporary living. In Msheireb, you are connected to the latest urban technology through smart phone or smart device transactions. Transportation is highly modernized as well, and you can get from one place to another in several ways, but the coolest and most unique has to be by tram.
4. Al Kharsaah Solar Power Plant
The Qatari government signed a memorandum of agreement last month with Marubeni of Japan and Total of France, giants in the field of energy. This agreement is all about constructing a solar power plant near Doha which will provide 800 MW, or 10 percent, of the country’s energy demands. This new project is the largest solar power plant that Total is involved in.
5. National Vision 2030
Qatar’s National Vision 2030 is really a driving force when it comes to building smart cities in the country. In fact, the primary aim of this vision is to “transform Qatar into an advanced society capable of achieving sustainable development” by the year 2030. By being a smart nation, Qatar can solve the problems developed as a result of human development.
Qatar has set an example to the world by going smart. With the advancement of technology comes great responsibility to become more sustainable and energy efficient.