Ashghal in talks on tech centre

The US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Qatar’s Public Works Authority (Ashghal) have discussed the idea of setting up a global technology exchange centre based in Doha, officials said yesterday.

If the idea translates into reality, the centre has the potential to be beneficial to a wide region, as the next nearest one is in Russia.

The proposal came at the end of a FHWA delegation’s visit to Qatar where a series of meetings were held between the organisation and Ashghal, its partners and stakeholders as well as the Minister of Municipality and Urban Planning, US ambassador to Qatar Joseph LeBaron said during a press brief last evening.

Such a centre serves as a repository of information, where information and best practices from around the world are collected and held in a singular place for availability to experts and practitioners of transportation, FHWA’s Global Technology team head Stephen Kern said.

“It (the centre) also engages in outreach, dissemination, and training for experts. We’ve found it to be very effective for the people who need it (the data),” Kern said. But the centre, officials maintained, was one of many broad-ranging discussions the parties held in a host of possible collaborations.

Earlier, the FHWA, which works under the US Department of Transportation (DoT), had conducted a safety audit for Ashghal, results of which were submitted last year to the authority for implementation.

Representing Ashghal, director of Roads and Drainage Networks Design, Engineer Jamal al-Kaabi said the two parties looked at a lot of issues up until 2022 and even beyond.

“Having a partner in US FHWA has boosted our outcomes and has become a very good asset for us,” al-Kaabi said.

According to him, some of the issues that were discssed included the existing and future plans of Ashghal on road management, intelligent traffic systems, bus routes, metro and rail all featured in the talks.

Ambassador LeBaron said: “I’m proud that Qatar has invited the DoT to send a high-level technology exchange team to undertake a technology co-operation visit related to Qatar’s roads in preparation for World Cup 2022.”

Photocaption: The US ambassador is flanked by Ashghal and FHWA officials