The Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC), has announced that it has signed contracts for 11 projects for its TASMU Smart Qatar Program during QITCOM 2019. QITCOM is the largest Information and Communication Technology showcase and event in Qatar, organized by MoTC.

The TASMU Central Platform contract was awarded to a Consortium where Ooredoo is the main partner. The contract was signed by Shaikh Nasser Bin Hamad Bin Nasser Al Thani, Chief Business Officer at Ooredoo. Other partners of the consortium included Microsoft, as the global technology enabler, PWC, as the consulting firm, TATA, as the system integrator, Malomatia, as the IT service provider, Dell, Cisco, Atos as the technology infrastructure enabler and security partners, S Software, as the business process management, PayCare, as the digital payment enabler, amongst others.

Most importantly, these contracts will bring to life TASMU’s mega-project, the ‘TASMU Central Platform’, which will form the principal foundation of Qatar’s transformation into a smart country and will empower cross-sector collaboration, as well as data sharing, to encourage innovation and digital enablement across the country and its growing digital landscape.

The Central Platform will be the main foundation of the TASMU Smart Qatar Program, connecting all projects and sectors, to activate integrated smart solutions. As the backbone of the TASMU program, the central platform will cater to all sectors’ requirements and standards. It will empower alliances and data sharing to spur innovation, create a comprehensive data repository housing all the data collected from its attached projects, and build on existing digitization progress and Qatar’s evolving national digital infrastructure.

The highlights of the day also included the ‘Operations of the Smart Qatar Program Transformation Office’ contract being awarded to Deloitte. The contract was signed by Muhannad Tayem, Lead Partner Deloitte ME Business Transformation Portfolio. The ‘Smart Sectors Transformation Roadmap’ project was awarded to Oliver Wyman LLC Qatar. The contract was signed by Dr Neil Reid, Managing Partner at Oliver Wyman.

Other projects awarded include, but not limited to, the ‘TASMU Digital Skills’ initiative that was awarded to Ronald Berger and signed by Stephan Essig, Managing Director. Among the smart sectors wave-2 smart solutions, ‘Insightful Customs Rating’, ‘Digital Farmer Community’ and ‘Virtual Consultation’ were awarded to Malomatia, and signed by Yousef Alnaama, CEO of Malomatia. Lastly, the ‘TASMU Six Policies and Standards Development’ was awarded to PA Consulting Group and signed by Hadi Faraj, Regional Partner of PA Consulting Group.

The TASMU Smart Qatar initiative is the MoTC’s flagship national digitization program, designed to underpin, transform and accelerate the achievement of all the foundation pillars of the Qatar National Vision (QNV) 2030. The TASMU program is a primary driver of Qatar’s transformation into a sustainable and technology-driven country. It provides oversight, governance, structure and delivery enablement for the digital development and implementation of smart technologies across five priority national sectors; Transportation, Healthcare, Logistics, Environment, and Sports.

The contracts signed by MoTC during QITCOM will support the advancement of these smart technologies, which are spread over 100 projects that are designed to address national challenges across the five priority sectors.

Her Excellency Reem Al Mansoori, Assistant Undersecretary of Digital Society Development, at Ministry of Transport and Communications, said: “We are delighted with the signing of the contracts during QITCOM 2019 and are excited about the progress it will bring to our flagship TASMU Smart Qatar initiative. These contracts will play a big role in carrying our country to the future it deserves.”

To support the development of TASMU’s Central Platform, MoTC has invited both local and international companies to bid for contracts. To support the local economy, TASMU has waived the performance and bid bonds for certified local startups and SMEs, to encourage them to participate in the tender process for the first eight projects. Leading international companies have also participated in the tender for the second wave of projects, which make up a total of 12 solutions.

She added: “In line with our country’s direction to support the private sector, we’ve waved the performance and bid bonds for local starts up and SMEs. We are working on eliminating temporary and permanent insurance bonds for startups, to help them take part in governmental tenders. We hope that by being open about such information, we can showcase the Ministry’s transparency and dedication to support the local economy.”

The first and second wave of TASMU’s projects that will be implemented in 2020 includes; real-time crowd and transportation management, intelligent road signage, national food security analytics, digital shipping guide, virtual physician consultation services, mobile clinics, active living index, and more.

TASMU is committed to enhancing the quality of life for the people of Qatar by addressing real world and relevant use cases focused on user journey’s through its five priority sectors. The initiative brings together government entities, local SMEs, large multinational companies, research and academic institutes, startups, and NGOs to create tangible real-life applications that are contextual and relevant to Qatar’s current and future challenges, aspirations and needs.