iPark or/حدائق الانترنت

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I was surprised to see this today. My friend Ali Al-Suwaidi sent me a link to this video today. This is about the iPark that I talked about in a previous post.

Enjoy.

Comments

  1. Anonymous12/3/07 10:57 AM

    How stupid is that!!? When countries are already talking about metropolitan area networks spanning the whole country. Somehow putting it in a park needs all this promotion!!?
    Doh!
    But you know what? Why not! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. LotusGem12/3/07 1:51 PM

    Qwaider, calm down.

    6 years ago I was driving at 12:30pm (rush hour) on one of the main roads in Doha and there were like two or three other cars. My team was piloting an e-Gov service, full transaction with payment. At the time government internet involvement was at/or slightly above 0.

    Now, 6 years later. They rank well above the average and well above many countries in terms of ICT (according to UN).

    At this rate, 5 years from now. Qatar will be leading in the field and ranking at the top.

    This is especially true since we have a CERT body now under the name QCERT, that focuses on a research as well as a focus on research and education coming from the top.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous12/3/07 6:16 PM

    Please excuse my ignorance, but what is CERT?
    By the way, there is no "Race" to the top. Countries like South Korea and Singapore already have these MAN-WIFI networks up and running. Tunisia decided to go with WiMAX instead (better in my opinion) but will probably be paid service, AND WiMax is still in it's infancy, so there will be issues.
    Covering a Park with Internet is something that municipalities in small towns around the US, Europe and even Africa has done already with great success, because it's SUPER easy. (Come to me, I'll design one of these locations for you for free)

    But again, I think it's good step ... I just don't like over hyped things, wherever they show up.
    And everything allah wakeelak in the Arab world is over hyped. We have to be #1, the Best, The Only, the whatever :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. LotusGem12/3/07 9:42 PM

    I don't like overhyping things. And i realize where that is coming from.

    However, in the Arab world we are suffering from an inferiority complex due to us autophobically criticizing everything we are, have or do. Or us making a big deal out of the most infinitesimal of achievments.

    I think however for a country that is still working on its road infrastructure, a FREE wireless park is quite an achievement. What is most impressive is not the technical side of it, but the strategic understanding of the need to prioritize on these things for the very reasons you mentioned.

    Us technical people sometimes fail to look at things outside the box, and fall for the trap of evaluating things from a techincal point of view. It is only when we mature in our strategic understanding that we realize how difficult it is to manage the limited resources for the unlimited amount of things we are behind in.

    ReplyDelete
  5. LotusGem12/3/07 9:43 PM

    Ooh, and btw, google CERT. :)

    ReplyDelete

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