Qatar to discuss road map to smart city at upcoming Arab Future Cities Summit

Industry experts will discuss the progress and future requirements for constructing smart cities across the MENA region, including Qatar. With a focus on knowledge sharing and networking, the 3^rd annual Arab Future Cities Summit 2014 will showcase best practice strategies and opportunities in the pipeline for city development through presentations from local thought-leaders and international smart city experts, and the innovative solutions that will integrate citizens, systems and services.

With a worldwide hype around smart cities, improving the lives of people in cities and driving the economy has become a prime concern for most of the Middle East countries. The World Economic Forum has ranked Qatar as the most competitive economy in the Middle East region and placed it at 13^th position last year globally based on a high-quality institutional framework, stable macroeconomic conditions and an efficient goods market. Sustainable development is one of the key pillars of the vision that aims at safeguarding natural resources through various initiatives by the public and private sector, and driving this mission, Qatar has promised to deliver a carbon-neutral FIFA World Cup in 2022.  

Key challenges that will be discussed include; water and energy supply, transport and mobility, sustainable development and citizen engagements through technology and intelligent urban policy. Exponential growth in ICT, product innovation, smart water and electricity grids are few of the topics that is expected to connect government authorities, developers, urban planners, investors, academics, cutting-edge technologists and international experts interested in contributing to the development of Qatar’s cities.