There's no doubt to that fact that among all the countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, Qatar is one of the few which deserves the 'Most Technologically-Advanced Country' accolade.
Not only because it's packed with all the amazing and innovative stuff, it also levels up every single day to a futuristic metropolis all set to tell the whole world how everything's all set (economically, physically, and technologically) for the epic 2022 FIFA World Cup.
In the latest Growth Promise Indicator (GPI) index, Qatar was ranked 34th out of 181 countries in terms of education, transport quality, financial services, and tech-readiness.
Luckily, for those of us that call this country "second home," 2018 has introduced a fairly great amount of technological advancements set to make people's lives quite a breeze in this part of the globe especially now that 2019 has recently kicked off.
Continue scrolling down to have a glimpse of the Top 5 Qatar technology trends that we've been itching to finally see materialise this year!
It was during the last week of September 2018 when telecommunication company Ooredoo flew the very first Aerial Taxi in Qatar—capable of transporting two people up to 20 minutes away with a 130km per hour speed. According to Ooredoo personnel, the Aerial Taxi technology "will be available in the future"—and we can't wait for that day to come!
The automatic drone-like vehicle runs on Ooredoo’s 5G network, a technology trend which we'll be tackling further in the latter part of this article. Its reliance on 5G means it can deliver passengers safely to their destinations without any driver.
If you want to know more about the Aerial Taxi, watch this VIDEO.
The Ministry of Transport and Communications has started the pilot testing of electric buses in Qatar in collaboration with Kahramaa, Mowasalat, and China Harbor Engineering Co. 4 months ago and the result looks favourable so far. The move comes within the Ministry’s ongoing endeavors to provide eco-friendly and sustainable transport modes that help reduce carbon emissions from public transit.
The testings on Qatar streets, if proved successful, will support the diversification of the countrys public transport sector as it will provide vehicles that consume lesser energy and emit lesser carbon. It also promotes the use of more eco-friendly materials; something that helps strike the aspired-after economic and environmental balance in all transport infrastructure projects.
In 2018, three friendly robots were introduced in Qatar namely Al Khalij Commercial Bank's "Jassim" and "Noor" and Hamad International Airport's (HIA) unnamed android who has the ability to measure pulse rate remotely and also has facial recognition feature built on it.
While Jassim and Noor have already adapted to the environment of the bank and have begun interacting with both customers and employees on diverse subjects ranging from product and services to general knowledge and fun aspects, HIA's flag bearer, which was launched March 19, 2018 has cameras and sensors to detect suspicious and wanted persons, fake currencies, credit cards, abandoned objects and explosive of any kind.
Both locations are eyeing to keep up with the humanoid robot trend in 2019 and we're sure that more companies will follow in the next few months.
Going to school will never be the same again, thanks to the arrival of Virtual and Augmented Reality education in Qatar. Teachers may soon be swapping textbooks and pens for headsets and search engines to fire up the imaginations of their students. There can surely be no more inspiring way to discover several hundred years of history, become acquainted with some of the greatest cultural treasures on the planet or discover the wonders of the natural world than through immersive, lifelike learning experiences that such technologies create. It’s almost enough to make you want to go back to school!
Before Aerial Taxis take flight last September, 5G was first introduced to the country for the first time—and the whole world—in May. Behind the launch was Ooredoo, the first operator in the world to come up a live 5G network on the 3.5GHz spectrum band.
Following the announcement was an Ooredoo 5G site which was accomplished just days after Ooredoo’s new 5G Commercial Core Network was activated. Ooredoo’s 5G network is the first commercially available 5G network in the world and is an important technological breakthrough for the telecommunications industry worldwide.
Many more world-first technologies, which joins the formerly-introduced Aerial Taxi in the list, are the 5G Bus, 5G houseboat, and 5G drone delivery and security systems which have all been showed during an event held on September 26 at The Pearl-Qatar.
What are your thoughts on all the advancements that Qatar is currently going through? Do you think that the technology trends that we've listed above are necessary in order for the country to ultimately achieve the Qatar National Vision 2030? Drop us a line in the comments and also, don't forget to like and share this article—it keeps us going!
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