Microsoft is announcing the general availability of its newest datacenter region in Qatar, located in Doha. The new Qatar Central region will start offering Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365 and Power Platform services. The Qatar datacenter region includes three Azure Availability Zones, which will offer additional resiliency for customer applications. Other available non-Microsoft technology services are SAP, NetApp, Snowflake, Adobe, and MongoDB. The investment was first announced in 2019 in partnership with the State of Qatar.
The new Qatar region offers the following to customers:
Data residency in country.
In country Disaster Recovery through zone to zone synchronous replication.
High Availability of computing and storage by deploying in three zones allowing a higher service level agreement on virtual machines availability and storage durability.
Improved performance through minimal latency for workloads deployed within Zones, to meet our most exigent customer latency-sensitive workloads.
Microsoft says it has delivered on its promise to help in Qatar’s journey to becoming a regional data hub with the launch of the datacenter. Additionally, the company is introducing a skilling program to help improve the technical skills of Qatarians to meet the about 24,000 new jobs the industry will need.
Microsoft notes this will be its first cloud region to launch with two ExpressRoute points of presence (Edge nodes). AI and machine learning services such as Azure Cognitive Search and services, computer vision are expected in Q3 of 2022.
In June, Microsoft opened an advanced innovation hub in Lusail City as it seeks to increase its investments in Qatar.
[jetpack_subscription_form show_subscribers_total=”false” button_on_newline=”false” submit_button_text=”Subscribe to get updates right in your inbox” custom_font_size=”16px” custom_border_radius=”0″ custom_border_weight=”1″ custom_padding=”15″ custom_spacing=”10″ submit_button_classes=”” email_field_classes=”” show_only_email_and_button=”true” success_message=”Success! An email was just sent to confirm your subscription. Please find the email now and click 'Confirm Follow' to start subscribing.”]
Microsoft has opened a new advanced innovation hub in Lusail City as it seeks to increase its investments in Qatar. The new office facility is located at the Burj Alfardan in Lusail City. One of Qatar’s planned cities along the Arabian Gulf in the southern part of the municipality of Al Daayen. The hub becomes the company’s fourth office and largest headquarters in the country.
The new innovation hub in Lusail will serve as a regional hub, serving Qatar and the Microsoft Middle East region. It will host workshops and sessions at its Customer Innovation Center to stimulate innovation and creativity among partners and customers. Microsoft says the office will also host technology startups, students and community organizations from across Qatar. It will further support the company’s effort to train, develop, attract and retain talent to build advanced solutions.
It uses the latest green technology to achieve energy and water efficiency. It also provides equal opportunities for all employees to access their duty stations through features such as easily accessible parking, automatic doors, Braille room signs and audible and video alarm systems.
“With the launch of our new offices and our Customer Innovation Centre, customers and partners will have the opportunity to co-innovate, ideate, and envision groundbreaking solutions that will revolutionise their industries.
I look forward to welcoming customers, partners, visitors and Microsoft’s team members to our new office.”
[jetpack_subscription_form subscribe_placeholder=”Enter your email address” show_subscribers_total=”false” button_on_newline=”false” submit_button_text=”Hi, sign up so you can get the latest in breaking news, reviews, opinions, events, opportunities and community updates right in your inbox. ” custom_font_size=”16px” custom_border_radius=”0″ custom_border_weight=”1″ custom_padding=”15″ custom_spacing=”10″ submit_button_classes=”” email_field_classes=”” show_only_email_and_button=”true”]
A Qatar University student team is the winner of the 2022 Microsoft Imagine Cup student qualifying competition in Qatar. The team, RE-TEAM, will represent Qatar at the Imagine Cup World Finals in Seattle later this year. For a chance to win 100,000 USD and a mentoring session with Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella.
The 7th edition of the Imagine Cup national qualifying competition saw over 130 students participating virtually. Nine teams moved on to round two of the competition with six teams battling it out at the finals.
RE-TEAM won $5000 cash prize, with their earth-friendly solution ‘The RE-Team Software’, under the Earth category. It seeks to provide durable and efficient robots that are able to detect and sort out different kinds of garbage on a conveyor belt using Microsoft Azure Custom Vision Service. As well as to encourage the public to throw their garbage in the correct bin.
Oryx Team and Team Trojan, the first and second runners up respectively also went to Qatar University student teams. They take home $3000 and $2000 in cash prizes respectively.
Oryx Team created Qalbee, a mobile system app for the early prediction of heart disorder risk, under the Health category. Using real-time ECG signals with the help of artificial intelligence algorithms. Whilst Team Trojan created a chatbot app under the education category, Trojan Wave app, that helps students choose a major.
[jetpack_subscription_form subscribe_placeholder=”Enter your email address” show_subscribers_total=”false” button_on_newline=”false” submit_button_text=”Hi, sign up so you can get the latest in breaking news, reviews, opinions, events, opportunities and community updates right in your inbox. ” custom_font_size=”16px” custom_border_radius=”0″ custom_border_weight=”1″ custom_padding=”15″ custom_spacing=”10″ submit_button_classes=”” email_field_classes=”” show_only_email_and_button=”true”]
Microsoft and INJAZ Qatar launch Women Technopreneurs, a project to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) into women’s entrepreneurship. The Women Technopreneurs project will focus on entrepreneurship with an emphasis on AI technology.
It will seek to increase the knowledge and qualification of young women in tech. So they can use these skills to benefit the integrated field of technology and business. Microsoft will provide AI knowledge and expertise to the participants in this project.
The project will select 30-40 young women, 18-30 years with an interest in a career in technology and AI from academic institutions in Qatar.
The selected participants will receive support, guidance, and assistance from experts, volunteers and members from Microsoft and INJAZ Qatar for 3 months. They will get the opportunity to improve and broaden their skill set. As well as gain hands-on experience and develop a strong work ethic.
Participants will team up to come up with business ideas that integrate Artificial Intelligence and compete against each other. The winning team will be enrolled in an accelerator program at the Qatar Science and Technology Park. Where they will receive intensive training and mentorship to turn their ideas into a commercially viable business.
Speaking at the launch event, Lana Khalaf, Country Manager at Microsoft Qatar said advanced cloud technologies like AI are driving new economic opportunities for the people of Qatar. Noting, It is vital to ensure everyone has access to these economic opportunities. That is why Microsoft is accelerating efforts to close the digital skills gap and promote inclusion and accessibility. The partnership with INJAZ Qatar to launch Women Technopreneurs comes in line with Microsoft’s commitment to empower young women to innovate, lead and succeed in an increasingly digital world.
[jetpack_subscription_form subscribe_placeholder=”Enter your email address” show_subscribers_total=”false” button_on_newline=”false” submit_button_text=”Hi, sign up so you can get the latest in breaking news, reviews, opinions, events, opportunities and community updates right in your inbox. ” custom_font_size=”16px” custom_border_radius=”0″ custom_border_weight=”1″ custom_padding=”15″ custom_spacing=”10″ submit_button_classes=”” email_field_classes=”” show_only_email_and_button=”true”]
Microsoft signs a Memorandum of Understanding with Texas A&M University, Qatar, to empower its engineering students with future-ready skills. The partnership with the Qatar Foundation partner university will provide students with the tools and experiences necessary to drive innovation and succeed in the workforce. As part of the agreement, the university will leverage Microsoft tools and platforms to achieve their common goal.
Texas A&M will pilot activities such as the Microsoft Learn, Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador Community and Microsoft Azure for Students in the 2021-2022 academic year. Microsoft Learn provides self-paced, digital learning resources to build skills and a foundational understanding of technology. Microsoft Learn will complement classroom learning and study materials. Students will get to join the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador Community which will help students learn and lead. By giving them access to free tools, events and activities and unlocking exclusive benefits through learning. Through Microsoft Azure for Students, students will gain hands-on experience with Microsoft technologies to start building apps, explore artificial intelligence (AI) and big data.
The faculty and teaching staff at Texas A&M University, Qatar, will also have access to Azure Development Tools for teaching. This will give them access to tools commonly used in STEM programs. It will also give them the opportunity to participate in the Microsoft Learn for Educators Institution Program, which gives eligible educators access to additional teaching and learning benefits.
“Texas A&M is proud to partner with Microsoft as we work together to educate engineering leaders in Qatar. We are grateful to share this vision with Microsoft and we look forward to the future successes of this partnership. Especially of our graduates says Dr. César Octavio Malavé, Dean Texas A&M.
Our partnership with Texas A&M at Qatar comes in line with our commitment to provide higher education institutions in Qatar with the resources and tools needed to build the next-generation workforce that will accelerate the country’s transition into a knowledge-based economy and innovation hub.
Lana Khalaf, country manager of Microsoft Qatar
[jetpack_subscription_form subscribe_placeholder=”Enter your email address” show_subscribers_total=”false” button_on_newline=”false” submit_button_text=”Hi, sign up so you can get the latest in breaking news, reviews, opinions, events, opportunities and community updates right in your inbox. ” custom_font_size=”16px” custom_border_radius=”0″ custom_border_weight=”1″ custom_padding=”15″ custom_spacing=”10″ submit_button_classes=”” email_field_classes=”” show_only_email_and_button=”true”]
Check out other stories making the news in the technology ecosystem in Africa and the Middle East.
