Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q) has launched Qatar Security Market Analytics Research and Teaching Laboratory (Q-SmartLab), the first ‘smart lab’ in the Gulf that uses state-of-the-art technology to explore financial big data.
Q-SmartLab contains a large interactive visual dashboard that aggregates real time information from the global financial markets. The lab allows users to sort information and analyse trends in financial markets on both a macro and micro scale.
“The concept behind Q-SmartLab evolved from a research project on conventional and Islamic financial institutions in Doha and the Gulf region. We realised that we were sitting on massive amounts of data, and we needed some sort of mechanism to deliver it to the students and faculty using a formal platform,” said John O’Brien,
associate dean, CMU-Q.
To create Q-SmartLab, O’Brien and Fuad Farooqi, assistant teaching professor, teamed up with Zeeshan Hanif, a research assistant and computer science graduate from CMU-Q.
The capstone course in financial markets, taught by O’Brien and Farooqi, has students evaluate the companies listed on the Qatar Stock Exchange and formulate recommendations to optimise their “smart beta” portfolio. At the end of the course QR 1 million will be invested in this portfolio. The Q-SmartLab plays a key role in allowing the students to complete their research.
Q-SmartLab was presented to the World Federation of Exchange’s 55th general assembly and annual meeting, hosted by the Qatar Stock Exchange, in October 2015. The lab was also showcased  at the Euromoney Qatar Conference by superimposing real-time financial information on a satellite image of the globe.
CMU-Q recently hosted the inaugural Q-SmartLab event, the Algorithmic Trading Hackathon, where the inter-disciplinary potential of Q-SmartLab was brought to light.