Qatar’s government-led digital transformation ranks as the top technology trend of 2021, supporting innovative mega-events and taking citizen services to a new level, global technology company SAP announced Sunday.
More than four-fifths (89%) of public sector senior executives agreed that data sharing helps them to improve how they connect with citizens, according to a recent Oxford Economics and SAP survey ‘The Public Sector Transformation Imperative’ of 3,000 senior executives from around the world.
“The Qatari government has advanced digital transformation amid the pandemic to better serve citizens. With 89% of public sector executives agreeing on the importance of data sharing, the top three goals for Qatar’s public sector organisations in 2021 will be to share data to improve citizen experiences, gain real-time data insights, and enhance their employees’ digital skills to drive innovation,” said Mazen Raad, managing director, SAP Qatar.

For the public sector, the top three lessons that make a digital “have” and not a digital “have-not” are:

1. Employee and citizen experiences will close the gap with the public sector.
Thanks to government initiatives such as the Qatar National Vision 2030, Qatar’s public sector will continue to lead data-driven innovation to enhance citizen experiences.
Among public sector leaders in the survey, 89% said data sharing improves how they connect with citizens, 83% said data sharing improves their innovation of existing products or services, and 82% said data sharing helps them to exceed performance goals.
One of the best examples is the General Tax Authority, which has worked with the channel partner Invenio Business Solutions to digitalise existing services and make them 100% contactless. More than 58,000 taxpayers have already registered on the comprehensive new system.

2. Data insights will point the way toward actionable insights.
Real-time data insights can help organisations to enhance operational efficiency and craft strong policy.
Many of Qatar’s leading organisations are digitally transforming on the SAP S/4HANA real-time business suite. Al-Ahed Holding has optimised core business and financial processes. Power International Holding has seen a 90% increase in operational excellence for human resources. And Qatar Islamic Insurance Group is enhancing customer experiences with its cloud platform.

3. Digital skills capabilities will streamline and expand mission-critical services.
Already, many Middle East organisations have embraced collaboration and flexible work policies to enhance employee experiences. But more can be done to enhance employee skill sets and collaboration across different departments.
Supporting skills development, SAP’s Training and Development Institute is developing the workforce of the future, with its Young Professional Programme training Qatari national recent university graduates to become certified SAP Associate Consultants. The ‘Winnovate’ initiative, powered by SAP, is an innovation coaching and workshop facilitator enabling Qatar’s organizations towards innovation.