The Smart City Platform of the Research and Innovation Sector of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation held the second virtual session of the ‘Smart Cities Around the World’ initiative on Tuesday.

The latest session of the ‘Smart Cities Around the World’ initiative revolved around the smart city Msheireb in Doha, Qatar, which was presented by Mohamed Ahmed, smart cities expert and former manager of the Msheireb Smart City Project in Qatar. 

During the session, Ahmed explained the importance and standards of smart cities in the Gulf region. He also discussed Msheireb as a smart city and its infrastructure and services, as well as reviewing the challenges faced in the development of the smart city and the future plans of Msheireb. He maintained that one of the most important points that must be taken into account when planning a smart city is the vision, the requirements and needs of the residents of the area, in addition to the presence of good urban planning and attention to the concept of environmental sustainability.

The initiative aims to host local, regional and global experts online to talk about their experiences in adopting the concept.