DOHA: The ICT industry in Qatar is set to expand as the country takes major strides in realising its long-term vision and gears up for the coming World Cup 2022, says an ICT expert.
"I see a bright future for the ICT industry because when Qatar won the 2022 bid, the strength of the Qatari bid was the technology side so we need a lot of people to join the ICT industry," Yazen Al Safi, ICT Senior Specialist at ictQatar told The Peninsula.
Al Safi was speaking about what ictQatar offers at the ongoing Qatar Career Fair 2011 at the Doha Exhibition Centre.
He also cited Qatar's National Vision 2030 as a driving force for the many upcoming projects that would require more ICT professionals.
The recently released ictQatar report refers to Qatar as a fast emerging technology hub with an exponential growth in ICT market of over QR7.64bn last year. Qatar is set to invest QR6.2bn in the next five years as part of its strategic ICT plan.
The market and users have become more sophisticated, and Qatar's IT software market is growing faster compared to other GCC countries, according to the ictQatar report.
Because of the recent developments in the country and yet more in the coming years, ictQatar at this year's Career Fair emphasises the many career opportunities in the ICT sector for young professionals.
"We are promoting ICT careers for the whole ICT industry, not just for ictQatar. It's a collaboration of more than 25 people from 12 organisations such as Qatar Petroleum and Qatari Diar," explained Al Safi.
"What we are trying to do is give technology a face because a lot of people don't know who are the people involved in the ICT industry and the different career choices in ICT market," he added.
The ictQatar stand provides information on the 12 different careers available for an aspiring ICT professional. The high-tech stand features a Digital Garden which asks questions leading to an assessment of a person's personality giving him an idea which among the 12 ICT careers suits him.
Among the ICT careers available in the market are project manager, web developer, graphic designer, network engineer, programmer, information security specialist, IT and telecommunications lawyer, software engineer, systems administrator, technical sales manager, technical support engineer and telecom engineer.
To further emphasise the awareness campaign, a video of seven ICT professionals in various fields is played to make the youth realise that ICT plays an active part in every single industry in Qatar.
In addition the application of technology in various areas such as in assistive technology is showcased in the ictQatar stand. Called sound vibration technology, the technology is aimed at helping people with special needs.
"We have a centre at ictQatar called Mada Centre for people with special needs. We also want to show how technology is helping people, that technology is there not just to program things for people to have a cool iPad or laptop, technology is helping people and make things happen."
"In general, what we want to show is that there are people beyond technology, why not be one of them? So it is an awareness campaign to educate everyone because with the future projects of Qatar in preparation for World Cup 2022 and in support of Qatar Vision 2030, we need these youngsters to be aware of these fields and be part of the ICT industry."
© The Peninsula 2011
