Global Information and Communication Technology (ICT) heavyweights have given their support to the first annual QITCOM Conference & Exhibition to be held from May 24 to 26, at the Doha International Exhibition Centre.Organised by IFP Qatar in partnership with ictQATAR, the event is described as a gateway for international and regional ICT companies and organisations to see what Qatar has to offer in terms of partnerships and research and development centres.Leading global telecoms solutions provider Huawei was yesterday announced as the exclusive pearl sponsor for the event. The company’s products have been deployed in over 100 countries and have served 45 of the world’s top 50 telecom operators, as well as one third of the world’s population. The company operates 17 research and development centres around the world including in the US, Sweden, Russia and India.Microsoft, one of the world’s top companies, is a platinum sponsor. Joining as diamond sponsors are some of the best known names in the ICT industry including technology and consulting giant IBM, business management software provider SAP and business hardware and software company Oracle. Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development is also a diamond sponsor. Also joining QITCOM 2011 as sponsors are Qatar Computer Services, and Qatar Datamation Systems.QNB is the official bank of the event. QITCOM 2011 has also secured some of the ICT’s biggest names as strategic partners.Cisco is the digital media partner, Qatar Science and Technology Park is the innovation technology partner. Furthermore, Qatar National Research Fund is the official research partner, and Mada (Qatar Assistive Technology Center) is the strategic access partner.“We have already had a tremendous amount of interest in QITCOM 2011 and this is also reflected in the support extended by these high profile sponsors and with ongoing interest from others,” said George Ayache from IFP Qatar. “This shows the strength and potential of the ICT industry in Qatar with investment in major ICT projects set to double over the next five years as part of the challenge to create a vibrant and diverse knowledge based economy by 2030.”QITCOM 2011 will have the triple themes of innovate, connect and transform. It will showcase Qatar’s growing stature in the ICT industry and underscore the myriad of opportunities in the country over the next decade.The conference and exhibition will run concurrently. The speakers include Apple’s former chief evangelist, Alltop.com co-founder and renowned motivational speaker Guy Kawasaki; the US Access Board’s Planning Committee chaiman Phil Jenkins; Google’s regional manager (Gulf) Mohamed Mourad; and Alcatel-Lucent’s senior vice-president (public affairs) Gabriella Gauthey.