Qatar Computing Research Institute

The Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI) in Doha, Qatar, is a nonprofit multidisciplinary computing research institute founded by the Qatar Foundation (QF) for Education, Science and Community Development in 2010. It is primarily funded by the Qatar Foundation, a private, non-profit organization that is supporting Qatar on its journey from carbon economy to knowledge economy. Contents 1 Background 2 Origins 3 Activities 4 Sponsors and partners 5 Directors 6 References Background QCRI is one of the three national research institutes under Qatar Foundation and specializes in applied computing research. Its research fall into two main categories: core computing and multidisciplinary computing. Within core computing, QCRI specializes in internet computing (with an emphasis on cloud computing and social networking), data analysis, and advanced computer hardware design. Within multidisciplinary computing, QCRI is focused on Arabic language technologies, high performance computing, and bioinformatics. QCRI has offices in the HBKU Research Complex, in Doha's Education City. QCRI has a staff of 90+ employees. Origins QCRI grew out of a series of meetings held by the Qatari Arab Joint Committee (QAJC) analyzing the needs of Qatar.[1] The group found that Qatar Foundation funded basic computing research at academic institutions worldwide through Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) and that it incubated the development of new commercial computing products through Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP), but it lacked a research organization focused on computing grand challenges that address national priorities for growth and development. QCRI was established in 2010 with a mandate to tackle large-scale computing challenges relevant to the needs of Qatari stakeholders. The stakeholders include Qatari industry, Qatar’s government, and Qatari society.[2] Specifically, QCRI’s customers include the petroleum industry, the telecommunications industry, the healthcare industry, and the media industry. The petroleum industry needs advanced computer modeling to assist in the extraction and movement of petroleum products. The telecommunications and datacenter industries need the most advanced research in computing networks, broadband, and other forms of advanced computing infrastructure. The healthcare industry needs efficient and secure management of electronic patient records, clinical information systems, and data interoperability protocols for the exchange and sharing of data. The media industry needs solutions for the cataloging and retrieval of vast amounts of content generated through audio and video, and it needs Arabic language technology solutions to digitize and publish the vast Arabic language corpora.[2] QCRI also works closely with both the basic research institutes in Qatar, including the Education City Universities on their most promising basic research findings. It also will work closely with QSTP to identify the most viable commercial applications of QCRI’s research. Activities