Questions/Answers
Question 1
Please briefly describe the initiative, what issue or challenge it aims to address and specify its objectives. (300 words maximum)
Qatar has long recognized the need to secure its economic future beyond oil and natural gas. Qatar’s National Vision 2030 outlines the economic development of Qatar, while ensuring a good quality of life, social support and protection for all of Qatar’s citizens.
Qatar’s Public Works Authority ‘Ashghal’ holds a key role in the advancement of economic and social capital through developing and delivering Qatar’s sustainable buildings and infrastructure providing a reliable, safe and efficient public service every day 24/7, to over 2.5 million citizens and residents.
To service these national objectives Qatar’s construction and development programme has become one of the most ambitious and fast-paced in terms of population and infrastructure. This environment creates challenges that are addressed by Ashghal as it focuses on providing excellent customer service, especially during the forthcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup and Qatar’s annual rainy season.
Addressing these objectives and challenges Ashghal developed two state-of-the-art Management Centers as a foundation for the operation and maintenance of the rapidly growing network of assets to cater to its increasing customer base, and to meet the demands of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, in a sustainable way. Significant improvements in service to all citizens have been realized already.
Question 2
Please explain how the initiative is linked to the selected category. (100 words maximum)
Guided by the state’s long-term economic development plan, Qatar National Vision (QNV) 2030, and driven by preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Ashghal has established two management centers (Drainage Networks Management Centre and Roads Management Centre). These centers monitor and manage Qatar’s roads and drainage networks (such as highways, main roads, tunnels, bridges, sewage, surface water and treated water networks) to effectively manage and improve the safety, security and efficiency of the services provided to Qatar’s citizens.
Question 3
a. Please specify which SDGs and target(s) the initiative supports and describe concretely how the initiative has contributed to their implementation. (200 words maximum)
- Good Health: Removing Sewage from the public contact.
- Affordable and clean energy: Enhance the efficiency of car movements.
- Decent Work and Economic growth: provision of essential services to support investment.
- Industry Innovation and Infrastructure: Employing leading technologies to support effective management of services.
- Sustainable cities and communities: Reducing carbon emissions through the use of connected IT.
- Responsible consumption and production: Minimizing and optimizing all forms of energy usage.
- Climate Action: Rainy Season preparedness and response and reducing flooding.
- Partnership for goals: Collaboration with international and national entities.
b. Please describe what makes the initiative sustainable in social, economic and environmental terms. (100 words maximum)
From the outset both Management Centers had the purpose of supporting the continuous development of Qatar’s infrastructure by offering control and support of systems and assets in a way that allows the country to maximize the potential of its investments in these areas and for the express benefit of all who reside, live and work in the State of Qatar.
Although the Centers use innovative and cutting edge systems and technologies, they are adapted and customized for the specific needs of Qatar and its people. Qatari Citizens provide ownership and Management and expert support is brought in when required, with transferrable skills being the key deliverable in order to allow Ashghal to visualize and drive the vision, requirements and future application of the services these centers offer.
Ashghal’s Management Centers are therefore fundamental elements of the present and future development of services to Qatar where the lessons of the past and the needs of the future complement each other inside processes and systems that are adapted and developed specifically for the unique present and future needs of the country.
Question 4
a. Please explain how the initiative has addressed a significant shortfall in governance, public administration or public service within the context of a given country or region. (200 words maximum)
Qatar has long recognized the need to secure its economic future beyond oil and natural gas. Qatar’s National Vision 2030 outlines the economic development of Qatar, while ensuring a good quality of life, social support and protection for all of Qatar’s citizens.
Qatar’s Public Works Authority ‘Ashghal’ holds a key role in the advancement of economic and social capital through developing and delivering Qatar’s sustainable buildings and infrastructure providing a reliable, safe and efficient public service every day 24/7, to over 2.5 million citizens and residents.
To service these national objectives Qatar’s construction and development programme has become one of the most ambitious and fast-paced in terms of population and infrastructure. This environment creates challenges that are addressed by Ashghal as it focuses on providing excellent customer service, especially during the forthcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup and Qatar’s annual rainy season.
b. Please describe how your initiative addresses gender inequality in the country context. (100 words maximum)
Ashghal Operations Management Centers monitors both Drainage and Roads which gives an equal service for safe and efficient movement of roads and drainage for both gender and all who reside, live and work in the State of Qatar equally.
c. Please describe who the target group(s) were, and explain how the initiative improved outcomes for these target groups. (200 words maximum)
The Target group concerning this initiative are those who reside, live and work in the State of Qatar. Ashghal Operations Management Centers have contributed in Qatar’s National Vision 2030 "human development" in which a large emphasis being placed on the Qatari youth population in this regard. Furthermore, there was a Knowledge exchange between Ashghal and outsource partners, and knowledge transfer from outsource partners to Ashghal, are therefore integral components of Ashghal’s strategy for building organisational and individual capability and competency.
Question 5
a. Please describe how the initiative was implemented including key developments and steps, monitoring and evaluation activities, and the chronology. (300 words)
Ashghal’s journey to establish the DNMC began in 2015 by:
- Benchmarking similar facilities in other parts of the world.
- Identifying the challenges, which Qatar might face in the future, for example, increased demand for services due to population growth, industrialization, and tourism; uncertainty over the effect of climate change on the region, increased unpredictability in weather patterns, and more frequent and intense rain events.
- Laying out a 25-year vision for the facility
- Establishing a 5-year plan of iterative development
- In 2015, Ashghal deployed CRMS and EAMS and established Rainy Season Work Procedures and an Emergency Control Centre to respond to Rain Events.
- In 2016, Ashghal developed interim integrations to visualize and analyze assets, complaints, and maintenance jobs on maps and dashboards and increased its networks monitoring capability by deploying sensors to monitor the flows at critical points in the sewage network and surface ground water network.
- In 2017, Ashghal to opened the DNMC.
- In 2018, Ashghal deployed the vehicle tracking system.
- In 2019, Ashghal developed a new much more capable Master SCADA System with systems integrations to all of the other operational systems to provide a single holistic version of the truth.
- In 2020, Ashghal deployed the new Master SCADA System to the DNMC manage Business as Usual (BAU) and Rain Events.
b. Please clearly explain the obstacles encountered and how they were overcome. (100 words)
Ashghal has recognized that major transformation to services the public through cocreation and adaptation of global best practices to ensure a sustainable implementation.
Question 6
a. Please explain in what ways the initiative is innovative in the context of your country or region. (100 words maximum)
- Collocated teams.
- Stakeholders collaboration.
- Real time monitoring.
- Data visualization.
- Enhanced services for citizens and residence.
- Whole operations learning environment.
b. Please describe, if relevant, how the initiative drew inspiration from successful initiatives in other regions, countries and localities. (100 words maximum)
Working in partnership with the world’s best in terms of products (i.e. Microsoft and IBM), and service providers to ensure that Ashghal embeds innovative new ways of work whilst ensuring that the lasting solution has been adapted and co-created to support on-going maintenance and evolution of this major initiative
c. If emerging and frontier technologies were used, please state how these were integrated into the initiative and/or how the initiative embraced digital government. (100 words maximum)
Working in partnership with the world’s best in terms of products (i.e. Microsoft and IBM), and service providers to ensure that Ashghal embeds innovative new ways of work whilst ensuring that the lasting solution has been adapted and co-created to support on-going maintenance and evolution of this major initiative.
Question 7
a. Has the initiative been transferred and/or adapted to other contexts (e.g. other cities, countries or regions) to your organization’s knowledge? If yes, please explain where and how. (200 words maximum)
Visits were organized with the Korean delegation for Knowledge sharing purposes. This is beside visits from entities within Qatar for the same.
b. If not yet transferred/adapted to other contexts, please describe the potential for transferability. (200 words maximum)
NA
Question 8
a. What specific resources (i.e. financial, human or others) were used to implement the initiative? (100 words maximum)
As a major initiative and investment this had the focus of all parts of Ashghal to deploy its resources, human and financial to support a successful implementation.
b. Please explain what makes the initiative sustainable over time, in financial and institutional terms. (100 words maximum)
- The Management Centres’ initiative has embraced this objective to support building the capacity and expertise of the nation’s workforce and professionals through ongoing professional development to leave a lasting and sustainable legacy within Qatar
-Working in partnership with the world’s best in terms of products (i.e. Microsoft and IBM), and service providers to ensure that Ashghal embeds innovative new ways of work whilst ensuring that the lasting solution has been adapted and co-created to support on-going maintenance and evolution of this major initiative
Question 9
a. Was the initiative formally evaluated either internally or externally?
Yes
b. Please describe how it was evaluated and by whom? (100 words maximum)
Internally Ashghal’s iterative approach to the development of the DNMC has already delivered benefits to Qatar’s wider community: the improved management of complaints has increased the speed of complaint resolution; the analysis of complaints has reduced repeat complaints; the analysis of maintenance KPIs has improved compliance with maintenance plans; the improved response to rain events has reduced disruption to the public.
These benefits are experienced by our customers surveys as conducted and analyzed by the customer service in Ashghal.
c. Please describe the indicators and tools used. (100 words maximum)
Customers surveys were conducted and analyzed by the customer service in Ashghal to ensure the optimal level of service providing.
d. What were the main findings of the evaluation (e.g. adequacy of resources mobilized for the initiative, quality of implementation and challenges faced, main outcomes, sustainability of the initiative, impacts) and how is this information being used to inform the initiative’s implementation? (200 words maximum)
- Evaluations have demonstrated on going and significant improvements in our customer services. were Ashghal continues to use these innovative tools to forecast issues or problems before they materialize to impact our customers.
- Those two centers are helping Ashghal build the capability of our nationals through on going development.
Question 10
Please describe how the initiative is inscribed in the relevant institutional landscape (for example, how is it situated with respect to relevant government agencies, and how have these institutional relationships been operating). (200 words maximum)
Although the RMC is designed and operated by Ashghal, it has reached out to other Government entities such as Qatar’s Ministry of Transport and Communications and the National Command Centre throughout its development and has incorporated interfaces and extensions that allow the RMC Systems and Softwares to share data and information in real time to approved partners and individuals. Duplication of role and purpose has been avoided at a national level and investment is only made once in the key technologies – an efficient and forward-looking approach that places the RMC as a resource for Qatar and its people as much as it is for Ashghal and its role.
The DNMC is also fostering closer cooperation between government agencies, for example, the ability to share information with Kahramaa (Qatar’s Water and Electricity service provider), with Baladiya (Qatar’s Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning), and with Qatar’s National Command Centre, are all leading to further increases in service and efficiencies within Qatar.
Question 11
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development puts emphasis on collaboration, engagement, partnerships, and inclusion. Please describe which stakeholders were engaged in designing, implementing and evaluating the initiative and how this engagement took place. (200 words maximum)
Qatar's Vision 2030 emphasized sustainable development which is aligned with 2030 agenda. Thus, the Road and Drainage control centers are key enablers for Ashghal to support this national and global agenda.
The centers utilize smart systems which helped us in knowledge transfer with our local partners which are:
- Kahrama.
- Ministry of Municipality and environment.
- National Command center.
- Civil aviation authority.
- Ministry of transport and communication.
Also there was a collaboration between Ashgha, Microsoft and IBM through a partnership approach facilitating adaptation and cocreation.
Our prime focus is on the services for our customers and the citizens in Qatar were our management focus is on improving the cost effectiveness and services being provided by Ashghal. our customers rottenly surveyed on our services provided to identify aspects of improvement.
Question 12
Please describe the key lessons learned, and how your organization plans to improve the initiative. (200 words maximum)
The design and deployment of Management Centers is a key part of Ashghal’s plans to deliver “A world-class service to the citizens and residents of Qatar” and supports the achievement of the Qatar National Vision 2030.
This has been realised via a balanced program of work, focused on the current and future needs of the nation’s citizens and residents, covering:
• Qatar’s National Vision 2030 prioritises human development: emphasis being placed on the Qatari youth population. Ashghal is proactively recruiting Qatari graduates to join its workforce. Knowledge exchange between Ashghal and outsource partners, and knowledge transfer from outsource partners to Ashghal, are therefore integral components of Ashghal’s strategy for building organisational and individual capability and competency. The Management Centers has embraced this objective to support building the capacity and expertise of the nation’s workforce and professionals through ongoing professional development to leave a lasting and sustainable legacy within Qatar
• Working in partnership with the world’s best in terms of products (i.e. Microsoft and IBM), and service providers to ensure that Ashghal embeds innovative new ways of work whilst ensuring that the lasting solution has been adapted and co-created to support on-going maintenance and evolution of this major initiative.