The rolling out of various state-of-the-art infrastructure, particularly for 5G technology, would play a key role in encouraging innovation among the Qatar’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), an industry expert has said.
“In countries where SMEs are adopting more advanced ICT, 5G technology will help small businesses and entrepreneurs to be more resilient and competitive, bringing enormous benefits,” said engineer Ahmed M Hassan, the founder and CEO of New Waves Qatar.
Due to the incredibly-fast 5G connection, Hassan stressed that SMEs will be able to stream high-resolution video, audio, and images with practically no latency, thus “getting things done quicker.” 
“This will generate huge opportunities for instantaneous communication between customers and co-workers. 5G networks will encourage SMEs to innovate. One example of such business innovation would be businesses developing interactive virtual reality (VR) technologies that could enable customers to enter dynamic video experiences,” Hassan told Gulf Times.
Asked to evaluate Qatar’s SME sector, Hassan said: “Although the impact of ICT on new services and products in Qatar are highly-extent as asserted by the Networked Readiness Index 2016, which ranked Qatar in thirds place among 139 countries, Qatar’s SME ecosystem in terms of digitisation and the use of technology still needs to be developed.”
Hassan, who was tapped by the Ministry of Transportation and Communication (MoTC) for its ‘Digital Transformation of SMEs’ initiative, also emphasised that there is a need to increase awareness on benefits of digital transformation and to optimise their business models through digital solutions. 
“The advanced communication technologies can help firms communicate faster and cheaper with both its suppliers and clients,” Hassan pointed out.
According to Hassan, official figures revealed that “Internet use in Qatar is 99%,” and that “most people in the country own a smartphone.” Because of this, he stressed that SMEs “have no reason to keep away from this revolution.”
“Every business in Qatar must plan to get the most benefits from the use of technology and to have a very strong web presence to market their business online, to reach more clients, to enable eCommerce when selling the products or services, and to enable cloud services to operate their business more efficiently. I believe this is the only way to keep your brand at the top of the market and to increase the market share of any SME,” Hassan said.
Hassan also lauded the MoTC’s ‘Digital Transformation of SMEs’ programme and the role it plays in the development of Qatar’s entrepreneurship culture.
“The MoTC’s initiative is playing a main role in developing and sustaining Qatar’s ICT sector through different activities. They’re aiming to enhance the digital economy of Qatar and lead to increased investments and GDP growth,” Hassan added.
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