ictQatar's Advisory Council plans benefits for Qatari Citizens

The international panel of regulatory and business experts outlined organizational frameworks for the development of ictQATAR as an unbiased and transparent regulating body to oversee ICT enablement throughout the country. ictQatar was established one year ago to help establish a knowledge-based and integrated digital economy to drive economic development and social benefits.

The Advisory Council addressed the unprecedented opportunities that ICT will bring to small and large businesses, students and teachers, the healthcare community, and every citizen of Qatar. The group reviewed long and short-term steps to support ictQATAR's plans to prepare society for the changes and benefits of ICT and e-power the public and private sectors over the next five years.

ictQATAR's Advisory Council is steeped in experience in the fields of public policy, ICT strategies and telecom regulation and liberalisation. The group discussed resources allocation, sustainability and practical projects that will increase productivity and efficiency, create new jobs and business opportunities, enhance learning, and enrich the lives of Qataris of all ages.

Wajdi Matar, ictQATAR's Planning and Institutional Relations Manager, said, "The meeting is a platform for ictQATAR's management to engage in constructive discussions with renowned experts in ICT development and gains first-hand knowledge on the latest developments in the rapidly growing field of ICT, and draw parallels from best practices and successful models. We are fortunate to learn from the experiences of others so we can quickly move to bring concrete benefits to all segments of society."

A senior team from Qatar's Planning Council, led by Sheikh Hamed Bin Jabor Al Thani, participated in an afternoon session linking ictQATAR's plan to Qatar vision 2025. The Advisory Council was established in February 2005 and is a permanent body comprised of distinguished members known of their unparallel expertise in ICT development, telecom regulation and business education.

The members are:-
Dr Raj Reddy, well known in Qatar as a world leader in robotics and computer sciences. His academic career, which has seen him through the universities of Stanford and Carnegie Mellon where he was the founding Director of the Robotics Institute, has gained him many international awards. He is particularly interested in human-computer interactions and artificial intelligence and much of his research is focused on using AI to help the disadvantaged.

Dr. Soumitra Dutta, dean of Executive Education at INSEAD, is an internationally acknowledged expert in e-business with particular regard to knowledge management, business innovation and driving growth through the innovative application of human and technological resources.

David Newkirk has more than 30 year's experience working at the top level with global companies and governments on issues of strategy, operations and organization, most recently for the United Kingdom's Competition Commission, the British Government's Energy Group Advisory Board and as a member of London Business School's Global Advisory Board.

Kathleen Abernathy, who until recently was a Commissioner of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and a leading participant in international negotiations on telecommunications regulation. Commissioner Abernethy has been honored by several organizations and was recently named one of the most powerful women in television by Electronic Media magazine.