Minister of Transport and Communications launches Qatar Program (TASMU)

Doha, July 07 (QNA) - HE Minister of Transport and Communications HE Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti, officially inaugurated the digital platform (TASMU) under the patronage of HE Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al-Thani, and in the presence of HE Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for Communication and Information Technology Affairs, Dr. Rana Abdullah Al-Fares, a number of Their Excellencies the ministers, senior officials, and representatives of technology companies, as well as many participants via the virtual broadcast of the event. Tasmu platform aims to harness advanced technology and innovation and provide smart solutions and applications in the five priority sectors: transportation, healthcare, logistics, environment, and sports. The platform is designed to enhance the collection and exchange of information and its investment in the decision-making process, and future planning by linking and operating all sectors, smart solutions and digital services in Qatar to support sustainable economic diversification, address key national challenges, and support innovation, scientific and technical research, entrepreneurship and companies in the country. In his opening speech, HE Minister of Transport and Communications said that the government of the State of Qatar has realized years ago the importance of investing in modern technologies and the potential of innovation and creativity to advance sustainable development and the national economy, noting that the Ministry of Transport and Communications has sought to translate this vision into reality that contributes to moving the country towards a bright future, taking the provision of digital infrastructure and a solid technical ground that enables all sectors to keep pace with the global development in the field of information and communications technology to enter the era of digital innovation. He added that we gather today to witness together the achievement of a new achievement for the TASMU Program on the way to building smart Qatar and enhancing the digital economy in Qatar and the region, which is the launch of the Tasmu platform, which was developed in cooperation with an alliance of global technology companies led by Ooredoo; This platform is considered one of the most advanced digital solutions in the world, with the advantages it provides of cloud computing, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence technologies, and big data processing and analysis. TASMU platform will form the beating heart of smart Qatar, which brings together government institutions and private companies operating in priority sectors to coordinate their efforts and unify their goals, to enable them to develop comprehensive solutions to provide all the services that users need in one place, and it will constitute a national resource, the Minster said, adding that the information provides an accurate reading and a comprehensive analysis of the reality of each sector in a way that supports the decision-making process, contributes to achieving optimal use of resources, and directs investments to achieve the best economic and societal returns. For her part, MoTC Assistant Undersecretary of Digital Society Development Reem Mohammed Al Mansoori said that the platform is the basis of the digital infrastructure for smart Qatar, which will allow us to collect and analyze information at the national level to develop joint smart solutions that contribute to improving our daily lives, noting that the work of the Tasmu platform is based on cloud computing technology to provide services at the national level to all state institutions, the private sector and developers to store and analyze large data, and link it to a set of comprehensive technical solutions such as electronic payment systems, geographic information system, and weather and traffic monitoring systems, in addition to enabling these institutions to benefit from the capabilities of the fifth generation technology, the Internet of things, artificial intelligence, and others, to be the beating heart of all smart services and solutions provided in the State of Qatar. Al Mansoori stated that the TASMU platform performs three very important functions, the first of which is to enhance direct communication between government institutions, companies and individuals working in various sectors and align their efforts, through its work as a central unit for designing, developing and marketing all smart services provided in Qatar; and the second is to provide modern technologies for workers in the public and private sectors; They will be able to rely on the platform's capabilities and services to develop their smart solutions and applications, which will contribute to accelerating the implementation of smart state projects, and will reflect positively on the growth of technical investments in the State of Qatar, as well as storing and analyzing data at the national level and transforming it into informational summaries that provide an accurate and comprehensive reading, contributing to rationalizing the decision-making process and managing resources in all institutions in Qatar. For his part, Chief Commercial Officer at Ooredoo Sheikh Nasser Bin Hamad Bin Nasser Al-Thani, said that we are proud to launch the TASMU platform, which will directly bring our country closer to achieving its goal of becoming one of the smart nations globally, explaining that as a leading operator of telecommunications services, Ooredoo places innovation in a firm position at the heart of its strategy and works in partnership with a number of the best companies that are distinguished by their technological innovations. It is committed to supporting the Qatar National Vision 2030 and the digital transformation of our beloved country and it is also proud to play a central role in this pioneering program alongside its partners. He added that we cannot but express our gratitude to the wise government of Qatar for its trust in Ooredoo and for entrusting it with the realization of the TASMU platform. The "TASMU" platform already has a number of smart applications and solutions, such as the "Virtual Consultation" solution, which was developed in partnership with the Ministry of Public Health to provide medical care services to community members remotely, which was accelerated with the onset of the (Covid-19) pandemic to enable community members to obtain medical advice and prescriptions from their homes for their own safety. The platform also hosts the "Digital Farmers Community Platform", which is a smart solution in the environment sector that was developed in cooperation with the Agricultural Affairs Department of the Ministry of Municipality and Environment. This solution uses systems linked to the TASMU platform, such as a weather monitoring system and GPS, to enable farmers to monitor their crops and lands on a daily basis through sensors that use Internet of things technologies to send farmers real-time updates about the conditions of their crops. It also helps them build a specialized community to share knowledge and experiences in the agricultural field to guide them in transforming best practices, the way of crop care, production planning, and control of agricultural pests and diseases. The platform also hosts the "National Food Security Analysis Platform", which allows information to be shared between government agencies, food traders and farmers, to ensure that these agencies work with each other in perfect harmony to ensure the provision of local needs and strategic stocks of basic foods such as wheat, sugar, etc.., without a surplus that causes loss, depression, a shortage in supply that causes prices to rise or food shortages in the markets. To contribute to the development of Qatar's economy and improve the quality of life in it, the TASMU platform aims to coordinate the work of the digital system in the State of Qatar by serving as a central unit that removes barriers between priority sectors, government agencies and individuals. Designed to be easily accessible anytime and anywhere, the platform is based on Azure Cloud and provides a myriad of software as a service, platforms as a service, and infrastructure as a service. By investing the capabilities of its main components, the platform will enable public and private entities to access the large storage spaces located on the cloud, which provide large computing capabilities to contribute to the introduction of smart solutions in the market with the help of the various services provided by the platform such as payment gateways, data and video analysis tools, Internet of things, machine learning and artificial intelligence. The services provided by TASMU will enable comprehensive digital transformation in the country, at a time when the platform aspires to meet an important aspect of the objectives of Qatar National Vision 2030. The launch of the platform includes providing 37 services and products compatible with the value provided by TASMU, and these services and products are distributed in five main themes: roll out and manage IoT devices, enablers and accelerators, add value to smart cities, generate revenue, and provide platform support. In addition, the TASMU platform includes a number of the best data capabilities in the world, such as data entry, processing, integration, etc.., supported by a strong governance model designed to encourage partnership and data exchange between various sectors, while ensuring the privacy and security of data, as this will enable the development of Smart solutions for smart government cities at scale, by interconnecting data, leveraging cutting-edge key products such as GIS platform capabilities fueled by innovative satellite imaging technology. Besides, the platform will provide SMEs with opportunities to benefit from advanced managed services and analytics tools, as well as providing critical security operations centers and network operations centers to assist with operations and security. Companies will be able to build, deploy and update their solutions quickly and anywhere, which will help in the rapid development of Qatar's digital ecosystem. TASMU platform also aims to launch more than 200 smart solutions over the next decade, in order to create a smart, sustainable and vibrant society through the use of modern and innovative technology. The platform will generally assist in the growth of the non-oil GDP, and contribute to the GDP through the ICT sector. (QNA)