The National Skilling Programme, launched Tuesday by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) in collaboration with Microsoft and Elev8, aims to train 50,000 people across all demographics by 2025. The programme will also empower people with advanced digital skills needed to drive innovation and contribute to boosting the country’s regional and global competitiveness. A key objective of the programme is to accelerate sustainable human development and digital transformation in line with Qatar National Vision 2030.
The launch coincided with the opening ceremony of the first-of-its-kind in the region Digital Centre of Excellence at Msheireb Downtown Doha. HE the Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mohamed bin Ali al-Mannai led the launch ceremony in the presence of ministers and government officials, as well as private sector executives. The Digital Centre of Excellence is part of the National Skilling Programme, in partnership with Elev8, and expands the joint efforts of the MCIT and Microsoft to create a highly-skilled workforce for a rapidly growing, diversifying, and technologically advanced economy in line with Qatar National Vision 2030. The centre is expected to play a key role in building the talent pool that will help accelerate the digital transformation of government institutions and private sector companies in Qatar. Engineer Mashael Ali al-Hammadi, Acting Assistant Undersecretary of Information Technology at MCIT, said: “The human development pillar of Qatar National Vision 2030 motivates us on a daily basis to empower and equip the people of Qatar with the skills needed to develop the country into an advanced society capable of sustaining its development and providing a high standard of living for its people.
“The launch of the National Skilling Programme and the opening of the Digital Centre of Excellence will be key to this effort, providing advanced knowledge of modern technology and cloud computing that will empower all demographics.” In a video message, Microsoft executive vice president Jean-Philippe Courtois said: “Digital transformation will drive new economic opportunities for the people of Qatar – that’s why we must ensure that everyone has access to the skills needed to succeed in the digital era. “The Digital Centre of Excellence will play an important role in this effort by empowering the nation’s digital workforce to leverage the power of the cloud to build a digital economy that is both advanced and sustainable.”
Lana Khalaf, general manager of Microsoft Qatar, said the official launch of the National Skilling Programme and the launch of the Digital Centre of Excellence are major milestones in the tech company’s ongoing partnership with MCIT. “Our efforts represent our joint commitment to unlock opportunities for the people of Qatar in the digital era by developing the technical skills of students as well as those already in the workforce,” she said.
As part of this partnership, Khalaf said more than 13,000 people in Qatar have been trained and certified across a variety of roles and audiences in just 18 months. These include students, teachers, IT professionals, developers, and business leaders. “This is an extremely significant achievement we have made toward advancing skilling and fostering a culture of tech intensity in Qatar, and we look forward to building on this momentum with the launch of the Digital Centre of Excellence and other initiatives as part of the National Skilling Programme,” she said.
Msheireb Properties CEO Nasser Matar al-Kuwari said, “As a smart community built on intelligent, state-of-the-art technology systems, our goal has always been to establish Msheireb Downtown Doha as a centre of innovation. Within this goal, we aim to become the home of various Information and Communications Technology (ICT) institutions that enhance the technical capabilities of the people of Qatar and unlock the potential of the next generation of digital pioneers.
“Hosting the Digital Centre of Excellence in Msheireb Downtown Doha aligns strongly to this vision as the centre will equip not only the next generation workforce but also the current workforce with the skills needed to establish Qatar as a knowledge and innovation hub in line with National Vision 2030.” elev8 president Maria Balbas said, “The partnership with Microsoft and MCIT marked a pivotal moment in Qatar’s digital transformation journey to create a highly-specialised workforce with the essential digital skills to succeed in the fourth industrial revolution.”
She added, “Elev8 supports a culture of lifelong learners and fosters curiosity and passion for learning. We take an innovative approach, applying Elev8’s active learning methodology so that learners gain knowledge through hands-on experiences and real-life scenarios. From students to professionals, to business leaders, the Digital Centre of Excellence will empower people in Qatar with the skills needed in cutting-edge technologies for a new digital world.” The Digital Centre of Excellence aims to develop the technical skills of students, as well as those already in the workforce. Through globally-recognised, industry-endorsed role-based skilling tracks, the centre offers individuals and organisations a professional advantage by providing a range of training and certifications that skill, upskill, and reskill professionals, developers, business leaders, and current students on advanced technologies, such as cloud computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and cybersecurity.
In cooperation with a number of leading international universities, such as MIT xPro, the European Institute of Business Administration (INSEAD), and HEC Paris in Qatar, the Digital Centre of Excellence will offer world-class training programmes. LinkedIn is also partnering on this initiative to complement the learning journeys of participants through dedicated workshops aimed at supporting and enabling them in their current and future jobs.
The official launch of the National Skilling Programme and the opening of the Digital Centre of Excellence come ahead of the launch of a new Microsoft Cloud data centre region in Qatar, which will avail enterprise-grade cloud services, combined with data residency, security, and the broadest compliance for organisations and companies in Qatar.
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