(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Qatar's aim is to become the best-connected country in the world and a leader in innovative digital economy, the Minister of Information and Communications Technology
H E Dr Hessa Sultan Al Jaber said.
She was delivering Qatar's Connect 2020 ICT Policy Statement at the ITU's 19th Plenipotentiary Conference in Busan, South Korea.
"Our presence here affirms our commitment to a future where people everywhere can create, access, utilise, and share information and knowledge to achieve their full potential as well as fuel our economies.
"Qatar is well-positioned for that future," Dr Al Jaber said, referring to Qatar's high ranks in recent World Economic Forum reports and Qatari research studies that say Internet penetration among households and individuals has reached near universal levels, plus the 4G LTE technology countrywide, 185 percent mobile penetration, and high-speed fiber connecting around 85 percent of the homes in Qatar.
"As a nation, we can't think of a more important goal than inclusiveness and ensuring that all people reap the benefits of ICT regardless of their age, gender, income, location, or abilities.
"For several years now, ICT training programmes for women, low-skilled workers, people with disabilities, and the elderly have been successfully under way," she added.
She also spoke about youth as the main translators of the policy into reality and said, "We know that our youth will propel Qatar forward into the future. To equip them with advanced 21st century skills they need to be the future leaders of the sector, we have recently initiated a new programme to train our young people in advanced skills such as cloud computing, big data analysis, coding, and media literacy."
The Minister also highlighted the role ictQATAR's Digital Incubation Centre plays in helping young entrepreneurs and start-ups to move on and advance from starting up to smarting up their businesses to reach market success.
Dr Al Jaber said, "We embrace Connect 2020's vision and its four goals: Growth, inclusiveness, sustainability, and innovation and partnership."
She invited the audience to the ITU Telecom World 2014 to be held in Qatar under the theme 'Future in Focus', providing an update on how new developments in ICT are transforming our lives.
Fresh innovations around smart technology will be on display for the first time at ITU Telecom World 2014. They included smart city, smart building and smart stadium technology.
Qatar is at the forefront of deploying these technologies, as the host of the FIFA World Cup in 2022.
The ITU Plenipotentiary Conference is the world's largest meeting of international policymakers. Around 3,000 participants, including heads of state and around 130 VIPs from over 160 countries, including government ministers and CEOs, are attending the conference.
It is held every four years to set the strategic direction of ITU, develop policies and recommendations that address the evolving needs of the union's members, elect the senior management team, ITU Council members and members of the Radio Regulation Board.
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