Qatar News Agency reported on 23 September that Qatar’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), Google Cloud and the Qatar Digital Academy had launched a national digital-skills initiative. It aims to provide more than 50,000 training seats by 2030. Courses will cover artificial intelligence, cloud computing and advanced digital technologies, with pathways from foundational skills to specialised programmes for leaders, technical professionals and developers.

MCIT Assistant Undersecretary for Digital Industry Affairs Reem Mohammed Al Mansoori linked the initiative to Qatar’s Digital Agenda 2030, which includes a target of creating about 26,000 information and communications technology jobs by 2030 and increasing ICT professionals’ capabilities by 10%. Google Cloud regional general manager Ghassan Kosta said the company had trained more than 12,000 people across Qatar over the preceding five years. The 50,000 figure is a future training-seat target, not a count of completed courses, graduates or new jobs.