Qatar to establish National Centre for Artificial Intelligence as part of digital transformation
Qatar’s Cabinet has approved a draft resolution to establish the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence (NCAI) under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), as part of broader administrative reforms within the ministry. The decision was taken during the weekly cabinet meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
According to Minister of Justice and Minister of
State for Cabinet Affairs Ibrahim bin Ali Al-Mohannadi, the resolution defines
the competencies of the NCAI and aims to accelerate the adoption of AI across
government services and public sectors.
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The initiative builds on Qatar’s ongoing
digital transformation efforts, including the Artificial Intelligence Committee
established in 2021 and the GovAI program, which fosters strategic partnerships
with global firms such as Microsoft to implement AI-driven solutions. In
February, Qatar also signed a five-year agreement with Scale AI to introduce AI
tools and training for public sector efficiency.
The country’s National AI Strategy, launched
in 2019, envisions an “AI+X Future” focused on talent development, AI-augmented
jobs, and building a knowledge-based economy. Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund,
the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), has invested in several AI ventures,
including the $13 billion Series F funding for U.S.-based Anthropic, developer
of the Claude AI system, as well as Applied Intuition, Turkish AI Insider, X’s
xAI, and Cresta.
At the 2024 World AI Summit in Doha, Prime
Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani unveiled Fanar, an AI model capable of generating, summarizing,
rewriting, and explaining Arabic texts, developed by the Qatar Computing
Research Institute. These initiatives reinforce Qatar’s ambition to become a
regional leader in AI and digital innovation.
Source: Doha News