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Featured Stories

Richard Adler: Broadband Blueprint Leads To Rapid Change

1st December
Blair Levin: Broadband new table-stakes for a successful economy

28th November
Let’s cull the trend of digital media rumors

20th November
New Assistive Technology Resource At Your Fingertips

14th November
Get Creative With Your Online Competitions

10th November

01 Dec

Richard Adler: Broadband Blueprint Leads To Rapid Change

The astonishing pace of development of modern information and communications technologies is profoundly changing all sectors of society and the way in which we live our daily lives.

Individuals and organizations alike are relying on modern infrastructure and services to an extent that was hard to even imagine just a few years ago. Evidence that ubiquitous, reliable high-speed Internet access goes hand-in-hand with economical and societal development can be seen all around us. However, a society under such rapid transformation will also face challenges – challenges that can be mitigated through careful planning.

Qatar’s National Broadband Plan, scheduled to be launched at an international-level symposium on December 8, identifies the actions needed for Qatar to continue to develop into a knowledge-based society, with an active part in the global digital economy.

For this transition to come true, ministries, public and private organizations as well as other sectors in society are encouraged to join forces in the implementation of the National Broadband Plan. In the end, we will all be affected by how successful this implementation is. As a participant at the symposium, you will be able to meet and exchange ideas with decision makers, experts and peers on how the planned future shall best become a reality.

Richard Adler, Distinguished Fellow and Research Affiliate with Institute for the Future, will be sharing his experiences and expertise in a keynote speech at the symposium, together with other international, regional and local experts.

In a recent interview, we asked Richard to elaborate on the importance of providing high-speed, high-capacity broadband connectivity to Qatar, and the necessity of having a master plan to ensure an efficient roll out of infrastructure and widespread adoption of broadband services.

Asked about the impact of a national broadband plan to a country, Richard stated, “A national broadband plan can raise awareness of the potential of broadband to support innovation, deliver a wide range of valuable services and spur economic growth. A plan can also provide a blueprint for what needs to be done to realize the benefits that broadband offers. Plans can offer a vision for the future, but they must be put into action for them to have real impact.”

Richard went on to say that Qatar has set an ambitious goal for transforming itself into a digital economy and that a robust broadband infrastructure is a critical foundation for such a transformation. Richard credits the National Broadband Plan for recognizing that the broadband market in Qatar is at a crossroads, with high penetration figures but limited competition. The plan will encourage more robust competition that in turn, according to Richard, should lead to better and more affordable services and the emergence of Qatar’s digital economy.

Richard argued that broadband is now the main on-ramp to the Internet, connecting our world in new ways, and that it is important for Qatar to be part of this new reality. For the National Broadband Plan to really mark the start of a new era of innovation and success in Qatar, it needs to be properly implemented.

As Richard believes that each country represents a different environment in which the technology will play out, he is eager to learn more at the symposium about how Qataris see the world and the potentials for further progress.

But with experts like Richard already signed up for the symposium, why is your participation still so important to us? Because, as Richard puts it, change is happening rapidly as we move from a connected world to a hyper connected one. The upcoming launch event provides a good opportunity for us all to meet and discuss where technology has taken us – and where we want to go next.

So click here to register for the Qatar National Broadband Plan Symposium and ensure that when Qatar hosts the FIFA World Cup in 2022, we will be hosting a digital media phenomenon.

Let’s get together and make it happen!

28 Nov

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Blair Levin: Broadband new table-stakes for a successful economy

by Anirudh Sharma

Indeed, being connected is the essential element in modern society, conferring broad social and economic benefits. And that connection is possible with high-speed, high-capacity broadband connections. Without broadband infrastructure and services, developing countries risk being left out from flourishing global digital economy.

Qatar’s National Broadband Plan, scheduled to be launched at an international-level symposium on December 8, will ensure that Qatar is equipped with the required elements that will ensure a smooth, fast and effective transition to a knowledge-based economy within the next few years.

But needless to say, the success of the Broadband Plan will require a sustained effort by both public and private organizations as well as other sectors of society. At the Symposium participants will be able to meet with peers to discuss and exchange ideas about how all of us can be an integral part of the plan’s success.

Blair Levin, Communications & Society Fellow with the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program, will be sharing his insights in a keynote address at the symposium, among many international, regional and local experts. We had an excellent opportunity to ask him about his thoughts on broadband and its impact.

We asked Blair about the role of broadband plan play in the development of a nation and he said, “Broadband has become the commons for how economies develop, improve and deliver the goods and services of the Information Age. In that light, it is not surprising that the World Bank and many other experts have discovered a positive correlation between broadband and economic growth. It is also the platform that will increasingly be essential for social progress, as education, health care, job training and other public goods will depend on universal adoption of broadband.”

What does, should, the plan mean to people in Qatar?

“The plan is just the start,” Blair emphasized, adding, “Implementation is essential. But if it is successfully implemented, it holds the promise of greater economic growth, social progress and improved access to the most important resource of our age – information. It eliminates geography as a constraint to the ambitions of the citizens of Qatar in contributing to their own well-being and the well-being of the world.”

So does that mean implementation of this plan would equate to new innovation and success in Qatar?

“There are no guarantees of success but without world-class broadband available through Qatar, failure is certain,” Blair said.

“Broadband is the new table-stakes for a successful economy,” was his advice to Qatar.

Blair told us that he’s excited to be part of the symposium and is looking forward to the conversations that would emerge, “both at the event, and after, in reaction to things said at the talks and on the panels.”

But there’s one thing that we know and truly understand – and Blair concurs with us on that – it’s one thing to come up with a plan but another to ensure successful implementation. And we are all in it together to see that the plan is implemented perfectly so that the National Broadband Plan becomes the driver for genuine social, economic, and environmental change.

So is it important for you to join us and all the experts at the launch? Absolutely. We couldn’t have put the importance of attending this event in better words than what Blair said, “Anyone can get a transcript and read both the plan and what people said at the conference. But only those who attend can be part of and affect the conversation about how broadband can be used to shape Qatar in the century ahead.”

So click here, register for the Qatar National Broadband Plan Symposium and ensure that when Qatar hosts the FIFA World Cup in 2022, we will be hosting a digital media phenomenon.

Let’s work together and make it happen.

20 Nov

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Let’s cull the trend of digital media rumors

by Anirudh Sharma

I’m sure you’ll nod in approval if someone asked you about having encountered a hoax or a fake image on social media. The phenomenon has existed since 1934 when Colonel Robert Wilson supposedly snapped a photograph of the Loch Ness monster but in our times of instant communication and news-sharing the Sphinx of hoaxes and digital rumors has reached an unprecedented scale.

If you are on social media, you must have encountered some form of this spread of misinformation – perhaps you saw a shark swimming in a flooded shopping mall in Kuwait, or did you stare sadly at the Statue of Liberty bracing for Hurricane Sandy, or perhaps you spotted a two-trunked elephant and or a three-humped camel (in Qatar, if you please), or one such image too many. The spread of fake images is one thing, but there is another trend of spreading rumors through tweets, status updates, text messages, emails… you get the gist.

Unsurprisingly, the rapid spread of misinformation online features as one of the top 10 trends facing the world in 2014 in the comprehensive and though-provoking Outlook on the Global Agenda 2014 report. Another trend of specific interest to us in the same list is intensifying cyber threats but let’s just talk about the spread of misinformation today.

The report was launched by the Network of Global Agenda Councils – a community of over 1,500 premier thought leaders –created by the World Economic Forum to foster greater understanding and collaboration around the major issues of our time. It was launched recently to coincide with their Summit on the Global Agenda which concludes today in Abu Dhabi.

The Report offers a perspective from the Global Agenda Councils on the challenges and opportunities of the coming 12–18 months. It offers a comprehensive overview of the world, drawing upon the foremost global intelligence network and its collective brainpower to explore the most important issues we all face in the coming year.

So what does it say about the rapid spread of misinformation online? Can we – if at all – tackle it effectively?

Farida Vis, Research Fellow at the University of Sheffield, and Member of the Global Agenda Council on Social Media, says in the Report that this is a phase when people make assumptions about the powers and problems associated with every new communications technology. It happened when we first had radio communications, surely must have happened when mass publication of books started, when telephones started ringing and so on.

Any online information is part of a larger and more complex ecology, with many interconnected factors. While it is difficult to fully map the processes involved in the rapid spread of misinformation or to identify where this information originates, writes Farida, suggesting we endeavor to look beyond the specific medium and consider the political-cultural setting in which misinformation spreads and is interpreted.

The Report cites the example of UK riots in 2011 when rumors were rife on Twitter about a children’s hospital being attacked by looters. People tended to believe the story because the preconceptions of rioters’ stereotypes and what they might be capable of matched the rumors, but the Twitter community that had started the rumor quickly debunked it as well even before the hospital and media issued statements about it being wrong.

The April 2013 Boston bombings, the Turkish protests earlier this year, and many other events have been the subject of misinformation through social media – sometimes even mainstream media has picked up this information to the dismay of the readers. Now, however amused or troubled they maybe when they first see a hoax photo or rumor, people are actually not happy receiving misinformation. And this is the fact that has got some of us working on sorting this anomaly of digital media. There are organizations and individuals working on processes, apps and initiatives that could potentially help verify social media information.

The Masdar Institute of Technology and the Qatar Computing Research Institute are working on a platform – Verily – that aims to enlist people in collecting and analyzing evidence to confirm or debunk reports. Then there are services like Storyful that use different methods to check facts about viral information, and there are apps such as Swift River that allow users to set filters on social media to help sort information based on how “trusted” a source of information is.

We would like to share some of our observations and some points from the Outlook on the Global Agenda 2014 report about how we can mitigate the rapid spread of misinformation online:

map the processes involved in the rapid spread of misinformation
identify where the information originated
consider the political-cultural setting in which misinformation spread
reiterate prompt confirmation or denial of misinformation by the concerned individual, organization, or event
clarify the role of mainstream media in publishing / broadcasting information based on verified and validated facts and details
develop and share guidelines and techniques that can help news sources and social media platforms to verify facts
use computer-assisted processing combined with human evaluation to put information into context

To conclude, it is imperative that in our time large amounts of unverified and contradictory information will continue to appear on social media networks following major events and natural disasters. Timely verification of this information is the crucial solution whether it is for the aid of coordinating relief efforts or to reassure the people who may be directly affected by the situation. We agree with Farida that every case of misinformation is unique and should be considered independently. But no matter what the measures, interpreting misinformation is all about human evaluation of the information and this is how may be for a long time unless we make concrete, collective efforts to combat it.

14 Nov

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New Assistive Technology Resource At Your Fingertips

by Anirudh Sharma

Assistive technology is increasingly opening the doors of possibilities for people with different types of disabilities be it education, work, or everyday life in society. It is becoming that essential tool which helps individuals to become more independent, confident, productive, and better integrated into their communities.

Of course, assistive technology can mean anything from simple, homemade devices to highly sophisticated machines, from toys to computers, and from communication devices to tools which assists an individual with learning, working, and interacting socially.

As beneficial as assistive technology can be, it is not always easy to acquire. This is where Mada (Qatar Assistive Technology Center) steps in. Mada recently unveiled a bi-lingual Assistive Technology portal dedicated to better serve the needs of people with disabilities in Qatar by helping them make more informed choices about Assistive Technology.

The highlight, we felt, is a searchable database of a wide range of assistive technology products including a detailed list of Arabic language technologies, supplier details and approximate costs. The products have been categorized to make it easier for people to find what they are looking for. People can search for a product, find out more information about the device, who might benefit from using it, and whether or not it is currently available at Mada.

The people who will benefit from the new portal are as follows:

people who are vision impaired or have low vision
people with a range of physical impairments
the deaf and those experiencing hearing loss
people with speech and language difficulties
people with Learning or Cognitive Disabilities (including those with Dyslexia and other reading/writing difficulties)

If a particular section doesn’t have many products, it may change soon as the Mada team will add more products on an ongoing basis. In fact, Mada also invites all companies interested in listing their products on the portal to contact them.

The portal, which also has a functional mobile version, has been built according to the guidelines set out by the World Accessibility Initiative (WAI). And the most impressive part, it has been developed entirely in-house by the Mada team. We sincerely hope that the Assistive Technology portal will become another successful Mada initiative to build local and regional capacities in the area of Assistive Technology.

Congratulations Team Mada!

10 Nov

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Get Creative With Your Online Competitions

by William Nestor

The online competition has been a staple of the healthy business diet for a long time now. But does anyone stop to think if they are getting enough bang for their buck?

Who doesn’t want to drive traffic to their website, increase their social media followers and, most importantly, promote their products efficiently online? These are the main goals which businesses are always striving to achieve through taking a financial hit for a prize offering.

Unfortunately, many SMEs actually lose money by giving away a luxurious prize in exchange for a smattering of social media likes and a few website clicks. This kind of failure usually boils down to a lack of planning and a somewhat spontaneous effort to boost the business’ online presence.

With some forethought, and clear objectives in mind, almost any business can get their money’s worth and perhaps even exceed expectations.

So, let’s take a look at how to plan and execute a creative competition which can make a difference to your business.

Seeing the Big Picture

Careful planning is the best foot forward. Far too many businesses run competitions in a knee-jerk fashion. Simply uploading a product image to your social media pages and asking your followers to ‘like’ and share it to win is a thing of the past.

Meticulous and conscientious planning will go a long way to ensuring your competition benefits the business. Dedicate sufficient time to developing a clear a strategy for your competition and what you want to get out of it.

Gaining Attention

It’s the name of the game really, right? A good place to begin your research is to look at how your competitors are running their competitions and if they are having a positive impact on their business.

Of course you don’t want to completely replicate what they do, but you can adapt certain methods and tailor them to suit your business. Creating an animation or running an interactive competition will certainly garner more attention on the web rather than the hum-drum product image with ‘like’ and ‘share’ to win the prize. Stand out from the crowd and be noticed!

Mutual Rewards

Appreciating the loyalty of existing customers and enticing newcomers with expensive prizes is good business etiquette, but you deserve more than only another follower on Twitter or Facebook. The competition should always draw the follower away from the social media platform and into your website to check out more of your products.

A clever ploy is to place the full details of your competition within a blog post on your website rather than through social media. First-time visitors to your website will instantly become more familiar with your business and products.

Oh, and don’t forget, make sure your website is completely up-to-date if you expect a spike in traffic and online sales. Any broken links or outdated information will look unprofessional.

Promotion With Emotion

Pre-launch promotion of a competition is a hugely effective marketing tool. It builds up excitement in your online community and gives potential customers something to look forward. In the interim it can also boost traffic to your website if you tweet and post teasers wisely. Be more inventive then simply ‘big competition coming soon’. Make it interesting and engaging.

Target Your Audience

Fortunately it has become very easy to promote your competition to the people you believe are interested in buying your products. Facebook allows you to pay for advertising so you can target your competition post to a specific demographic. It very straightforward to manage and you see all the major companies dabbling with it.

It’s also important to remember to send out an email to your mailing list to fill them in about your competition. Not everyone has time to be on social media networks on a regular basis!

Finally, I think it’s smart to keep in mind the three E’s of competitions: Effort, Entice, and Engage. And if these effective strategies work for you, share the story with us.

Filed Under: Blogging, Consumers, CSR, Digital Content, Digital Marketing, Featured, Innovation, Mobile Technology, online advertising, Social Media, Technology, Uncategorized, User Experience