Clarifying the Qatar National Vision 2030
Top management from telco Ooredoo Qatar met with Kevin Murphy the president and head of Ericsson One networks in California in August as the telco seeks inspiration and creative solutions to the challenges of its clients in the oil and gas industry. According to insiders the discussion was dominated by private networks, oil and gas and robotics.
Attendees from the Ooredoo delegation were introduced to core Ericsson technologies at the D-15 centre in Silicon Valley, California. They toured the Ericsson laboratories and witnessed use case demonstrations. The most spectacular demo involved a remote connection to the Plano Experience centre, where delegates witnessed Indro robotics in action, with Ericsson experts flying a remote-controlled drone in Canada.
It was also a chance to meet executives from Cradlepoint, a recent landmark Ericsson acquisition which specialises in 5G and Wireless WAN. The discussions centred around the use of smart ports in private networks for the oil and gas industries, and extended out to a wider debate about their use in other enterprise businesses.
Ericsson is precisely the sort of institution that Ooredoo seeks to partner with as it helps transform its client with major technological changes, according to Thani Ali al-Malki, executive director for business at Ooredoo. “Ericsson is currently helping us to modernise the networks of the oil and gas industry in Qatar,” said Ali al-Malki. “We are looking forward to a very exciting engagement during September and October to boost innovation in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030.”
Kevin Murphy, head of the Global Customer Unit Ooredoo Group at Ericsson Middle East and Africa, said the equipment maker is helping Ooredoo to expedite its digitisation. “This executive visit [aims to] support Ooredoo with new ideas and cutting-edge technologies. [We will] promote creativity and technological advancement to support enterprise business growth in the state of Qatar. It was a pleasure to welcome Ooredoo executives at Ericsson D-15 and we look forward to further strengthening this collaboration.” This site visit, tour and executive briefing is part of a recent and wide-ranging mission by Ooredoo executives to key US technology companies.