The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in cooperation with Qatar Development Bank, the Gulf Organisation for Industrial Consulting (GOIC), and the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), organised the event titled “Gulf Workshops on Digital Transformation of Factories.” The event was attended by official delegations from government entities concerned with industry and digital transformation across GCC member states, in addition to senior officials from relevant entities and representatives of the industrial sector.
As part of ongoing efforts to support digital transformation in the industrial sector, the workshops focused on enhancing factories’ readiness to adopt Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) technologies, contributing to improved production efficiency, higher product quality, and increased competitiveness.
Held over two days, the workshops aimed to support the complementary track for establishing the Gulf Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in the State of Qatar, envisioned as a unified regional platform for advancing digital industry and facilitating the exchange of Gulf expertise. The programme also highlighted Qatar’s experience in supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in transitioning toward smart manufacturing, while promoting Gulf industrial cooperation, integration, and knowledge exchange to support policy and practice development in digital transformation and advanced technologies.
A roundtable discussion with Qatar’s industrial ecosystem was held with the participation of representatives from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Qatar Development Bank, the Ministry of Finance – Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the General Secretariat, and the Arab Industrial Development, Standardization and Mining Organization (AIDSMO). The agenda further included a workshop on transitioning toward operational excellence, addressing agile digital transformation methodologies, in addition to site visits by participating Gulf delegations to several factories in the Small and Medium Industries Zone to review practical applications of advanced technologies.
The programme also featured a series of workshops and sessions covering digital transformation leadership, challenges faced by SMEs, and inspiring success stories. A strategic session reviewed the pathway for establishing the Gulf Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, including the current landscape and future directions, followed by a brainstorming session focused on enhancing Gulf industrial integration, building an integrated ecosystem for technical and consultancy service providers, promoting digital industry culture, and discussing data governance, protection, and opportunities for coordination on regulatory frameworks and standards.
The workshops concluded with an emphasis on the pivotal role of digital transformation in enhancing productivity and strengthening the competitiveness of national industries, in support of sustainable industrial growth.
