Tech & Communications

Infographic: Vodafone by the numbers

by  — 28 October 2013

In an exclusive interview with The Edge, new Vodafone Qatar CEO Kyle Whitehill, reveals his insights into the telecommunications sector and how he plans to grow his firm’s Qatari market share and company stock value. read more ›

Incoming Vodafone Qatar CEO Kyle Whitehill hopes to increase network coverage, raise the brand profile, add value and improve service standards, as well as increase market share for Vodafone among Qatari nationals and in the fixed line and enterprise market segments.

Strength in diversity: An interview with the new CEO of Vodafone

by  — 28 October 2013

In an exclusive interview, new Vodafone Qatar CEO Kyle Whitehill tells The Edge how his time spent working for the brand in Africa and India, as well as with joint ventures, has been ideal preparation for his current role. He reveals his insights into the telecommunications sector and how he plans to grow his firm’s Qatari market share and company stock value. read more ›

Around four million pilgrims performed the Hajj last year, and as many are expected this year. In time for the Hajj season, Hajjnet has launched its latest app HajjSalam, an app that guides Muslims through the rituals of the pilgrimage. (Image Corbis)

Niche app markets and the potential for growth

by  — 14 October 2013

The burgeoning app market is a significant opportunity for developers, with Apple paying out USD5 billion (QAR18.2 billion) to its developers in 2012. One company looking to make of the most of this growth is Dubai based start-up Hajjnet, which is focussed on delivering apps aimed at Muslim markets. read more ›

The ability of large property developers to deny access to telecommunications service providers and in some cases dictate the terms of access have resulted in the slow rollout of infrastructure.

Qatar mobile network hindered by access to land use

by  — 9 October 2013

The recent release of ictQATAR’s Regulatory Strategy 2013 to 2016 outlines the priorities of the regulatory authority in upcoming years. A public consultation on the draft strategy revealed that service providers were severely hindered in their network rollout plans by the impediments to land use in Qatar. read more ›

Qatar Media Industries Forum panelists share data on the country’s media market (Image NU-Q)

Lack of data on Qatari media market a challenge to decision making

by  — 8 October 2013

The perceived lack of data on the media market in Qatar and the impact it has had on decision making has been the two most pressing issues facing the local media industry, explained Everette E. Dennis, the dean and CEO of Northwestern University Qatar (NUQ). read more ›

71 percent of MENA employers influenced by candidate’s social-networking activities

by  — 30 September 2013

A Middle East and North Africa poll conducted recently by Bayt.com , has shown that managing one's online presence and creating a powerful personal brand is more important than ever, with 70.5 percent of polled professionals saying they have changed their mind about a candidate based on their online presence. read more ›

Hiroyasu Sugiyama, the managing director of Sony Middle East and Africa says the growth of the consumer electronics market in Africa is expected to be the single largest contributor to business growth in the continent.

Sony: A legacy of innovation drives business growth

by  — 15 September 2013

The Edge spoke exclusively with Hiroyasu Sugiyama, the managing director of Sony Middle East and Africa (MEA) about the importance of MEA markets to the company and what trends he sees emerging that electronics companies can capitalise on.  read more ›

“There is so much opportunity in Qatar, either because something has not been done or it has not been done well,” says Khalifa Saleh Al Haroon, entrepreneur and CEO of iloveqatar.net

Beyond bricks & mortar: Can Qatar really become the ‘Silicon Valley’ of the Middle East?

by  — 15 September 2013

Qatar was recently ranked by the World Economic Forum as the most networked Arab country and the 23rd most networked nation in the world. Thanks to the ubiquitous nature of the Internet in Qatar, the opportunities for business online is growing. In 2012, Qatar’s e-commerce market was worth USD600 million (QAR2.2 billion), a figure that by 2015 is expected to reach USD1.1 billion (QAR4 billion). As the country’s behavioural trends follow those of more networked nations, it is important to question if Qatar’s e-commerce industry is actually on track for this sort of growth. read more ›

Saleh Al Kuwari, chief technical manager at ictQATAR speaking at the launch of Qatar’s own Arabic domain registry in 2011. He noted “The Arab world represents a region with enormous potential for growth both in terms of usage and the creation of new digital content, especially Arabic content.” (Image by ictQatar)

“.shabaka” the world’s first Arabic borderless top-level domain

by  — 8 September 2013

Arabic speaking Internet users from all over the world will be able to access the Internet using only Arabic for the first time after the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the global regulator of web addresses entered into a contract with .shabaka registry “شبكة.” making it the world’s first Arabic Top-Level Domain (TLD). read more ›

A cyber activist group recently annouced they would be targeting major energy producers in the Middle East including Qatar, but it seems their plans might ostensibly have been thwarted thanks to increased efforts by government entitites and local organisations. (Image Corbis)

Threat of cyber activist group attack on Qatar fails

by  — 4 August 2013

The cyber activist group Anonymous announced that it would launch a cyber attack in June aimed at major energy producers in the Middle East, including Qatar in an operation named #OpPetrol. So what impact did this have on Qatar? read more ›

At a recent press conference, Waleed Al Sayed, (right) COO Ooredoo Qatar, noted that Business Fibre would launch with a special emphasis on the country’s small- and medium-sized businesses.

Ooredoo’s business customers can expect upgrade to faster Internet at no extra charge

by  — 31 July 2013

Ooredoo's new Business Fibre broadband service promises to provide businesses in the country a much faster and most reliable connection to the Internet as it makes the move from ADSL to a fibre optic network read more ›

Android vulnerability affects 99 percent of devices according to mobile security firm

by  — 14 July 2013

Last week, security researchers announced a new vulnerability for Android phones which could allow installed apps to be modified without the user being aware of it.  read more ›

Qatari enterprises risk failure if their network infrastructure is not upgraded

by  — 12 July 2013

Brocade, a leading networking vendor, today announced the results of its global survey of 1,750 IT decision makers which evaluated the current state of their data center environments.  read more ›

Qatar Domains Registry recently launched an application for both iOS and Android platforms that allows users to check domain name availability and register their domain name with an accredited registrar.

Cyber squatting in Qatar

by  — 4 July 2013

Two years ago, Qatar announced the availability of local domain names. If your organisation does not have an online presence yet, it might be a good idea to register your company trademark soon, explains Theuns van de Merwe, a consultant with a Doha-based law firm. read more ›

The emergence of ‘showrooming’ as a trend could affect the future profitability of Qatar’s retailers. One expert believes that developing instore customer engagement methods especially relying on mobile could help traditional retailers prepare for the incoming trend. (Image Arabian Eye)

Can mobile save Qatar’s retailers from online shopping ‘showroomers’?

by  — 2 July 2013

A recent study by global market research firm TNS revealed that ‘showrooming’ - a concept where customers visit stores to test products but buy them elsewhere – especially online - has emerged as a significant threat to traditional retailers. read more ›

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