00:02The smartest city isn't necessarily the one with the tallest skyline.
00:06It's the one that thinks, learns and one that quietly solves problems before we even notice them.
00:14Across Qatar, the future is already taking shape.
00:17From autonomous vehicles navigating the city streets,
00:20to traffic lights anticipating congestion and hyper-connected devices
00:25that's boosting the quality of daily life at the touch of a screen.
00:29We're discovering how technology is changing the way cities move, breathe and live.
00:34I'm Laila Humaira and this is Qatar in Motion.
00:42Did you know that in Boston Consulting Group's inaugural 2026 Intelligence Cities Index,
00:48Doha was named one of the emerging intelligence cities alongside the likes of Tokyo, Rome, Almaty and Melbourne.
00:55The key finding, cities that are embedding AI into core services are delivering faster and better outcomes.
01:05One of the first things people think of when they hear smart city is electric vehicles,
01:11autonomous cars and a seamless public transport journey.
01:14Well, that's all being engineered here at Mawasalat, Qatar's largest transportation service provider.
01:21Over the last couple of years, the company has transformed its fleet of public buses and taxis,
01:27with the latest addition being these robo-taxis.
01:30And I'm hopping in for a ride.
01:32The future of mobility isn't being imagined anymore.
01:36It's being rolled out as we speak.
01:39After a few phases of intense trials, these robo-taxis are a step closer to being fully autonomous.
01:47The bright-teal smart cars are being powered by China's Pony AI's artificial intelligence computing system.
01:54They're also equipped with 11 smart cameras, including four LiDAR sensors and four radars.
02:01It's quite surreal to be sitting in a moving robo-taxi that's driving on its own.
02:07We have the safety officer, but he's not touching the steering at all.
02:11What's the technology driving this robo-taxi we're in now?
02:15Exactly. And I can see that you are comfortable.
02:17You can feel like this is like a normal safe ride.
02:20In a scenario, for example, that we see different pedestrians, as you can see, walking and vehicles around us,
02:26we are able even to anticipate their path for 20 seconds.
02:30So the computer or the edge unit, the AI, the brain of the robo-taxi can do all of these
02:36calculations real-time and very fast.
02:39It is based on a highly accurate map.
02:42We call it a high-definition map, which identifies all of these objects that we are seeing around us.
02:48It knows millimeter accuracy in terms of the micro and macro objects and the distances between them,
02:55so that the accuracy of the calculation is robust.
02:58For any new, I would say, technology or system, there is always thorough testing that has to be done.
03:04So the availability of the safety officer within the vehicle is to ensure the safe and the reliability of the
03:13experience.
03:14So then having said that, how soon will we be able to take these robo-taxis in public without a
03:19safety officer?
03:20In terms of the system and the readiness, we are actually ready.
03:22Yeah, but it's a matter of getting the necessary permit.
03:27And I believe that when this happens, you will see the complete level 4 experience.
03:32For now, Mawasalat's robo-taxis are limited to operating in selected parts of Doha.
03:38The testing phases are crucial because they help the company collect the data they need to improve the system.
03:44We have completed more than 800,000 autonomous kilometers, which means these kilometers were done using the supervised robo-taxi.
03:53And it is equivalent to approximately 3,000 trips.
03:56The most exciting aspect or insight for us is that these 3,000 have been rated because at the end
04:01of each autonomous ride by the robo-taxi,
04:04the public or the rider, they basically rate that trip.
04:06And our average is 4.8 out of 5, which showcases the acceptance and the satisfaction of the riders using
04:13the service.
04:13The team started to train and to improve the AI or the robo-taxi, covering scenarios of different trials,
04:21localization, understanding the signs, for example, the uniforms of the police, the vehicles,
04:28all of the required safety measures as well to take the robo-taxi in an actual road.
04:33Our smart city journey continues here at the Autonomous E-Mobility Forum,
04:37where policymakers, innovators and industry leaders have gathered to answer one main question.
04:44How will we move through the cities of tomorrow?
04:47We need to change the way how we travel, how we go from A to B due to climate change.
04:54So this is something which we cannot ignore.
04:56Climate change is real. Pollution, emissions are hurting our planet.
05:00From a global community, we are forced to move into a different era.
05:06When it comes to Qatar, we are in a very good situation because we have a small country.
05:11We are flexible. We can adapt.
05:13There are resources which can be invested in new technologies.
05:17We are basically in this era where infrastructure needs to adapt,
05:22where technology gets implemented and where regulations and policies need to be made
05:28in order to enable us to implement.
05:33Driven by the need to make mobility more sustainable,
05:37the roadmap to building a smart city often starts with a seamless,
05:41interconnected network of diverse transportation options.
05:46I think a true smart city is connected in many ways.
05:49We have already an autonomous metro in Qatar.
05:52We will have air shuttles.
05:54We will have also the marine sites where we have floating electric vessels
05:59who are bringing people from one place to the other.
06:02We need to be more sustainable and smart.
06:04And I think that we have already fantastic showcases in some parts of Qatar
06:08where we have started to implement such things and there is much more to come.
06:11It also comes as no surprise that Mawasalat is a headliner at the forum,
06:17leading discussions and collaboration among key stakeholders.
06:22Mawasalat's participation here is to talk about the transportation,
06:26its role in terms of the transportation safety,
06:30the reduction of the omission of the CO2 through the electrifying of the public transport
06:35and the different services that we are offering.
06:37We are talking also about the alignment with Qatar Vision 2030
06:40when it comes to the robo-taxi and when it comes to the autonomous vehicle experience.
06:45More than 70% of Mawasalat's fleet of public buses are now electric.
06:51That's nearly 900 electric buses moving the public all year round.
06:56The goal is to achieve full-fleet electrification by 2030,
07:01which includes buses, taxis and on-demand services.
07:05We are doing this in close coordination with our partners,
07:09all catering to the mobility as an actual unit in Qatar
07:12to be safe, reliable and efficient.
07:14The way I envision the future will be that
07:16when a passenger comes to Qatar from the airport,
07:19he will be welcomed or she will be welcomed by an autonomous vehicle
07:22in a very clean, low-carbon omissioned country.
07:26They will be in a digital at-wind environment
07:28in which all the different systems are integrated,
07:30so that will all add value to the safety level
07:33and to the consistency that will be available.
07:38Autonomous vehicles may be grabbing the headlines,
07:40but it's just one piece of a much bigger puzzle.
07:43From energy and infrastructure to climate innovation and digital connectivity,
07:48smart cities rely on countless technologies
07:51working together behind the scenes.
07:53I spoke to an expert about how Qatar
07:55is bringing all those pieces together.
07:58Technology is advancing very rapidly.
08:00It's very obvious for a country like Qatar
08:03also to catch up with the latest technology in the market.
08:06There is no way out but to build the necessary
08:08and needful infrastructure to cater for those new technologies
08:12to be built and used within our own communities and system.
08:17It is not only related to communication,
08:18but also to transportation, to media,
08:22to anything you might think of in terms of public services.
08:26We have to make life so easy for our communities
08:29and the stakeholders within this community.
08:33Imagine a smart city as a living organism.
08:36If the brains of a smart city is AI,
08:38the nervous system, the cloud and communication networks,
08:42then the backbone of a city is the digital infrastructure
08:45that connects everything.
08:47But at the heart of it all are the people and the ideas
08:50that help improve the way we live.
08:53Being a smart city is the invisible part.
08:57What people see is just the tip.
08:59They see the car moving by itself.
09:02They see the screen or the kiosks.
09:05They see the mobile application,
09:06but they don't see the data layers,
09:09the hundreds of integrations between the different systems
09:13that make this seamless experience.
09:16We have digital consultancy,
09:18digital design,
09:19and digital delivery.
09:20Basically, a gap is there in every market
09:23where these three vertices are separated.
09:27AppLab have them under one roof.
09:29AppLab started to work on solution by solution,
09:33block by block,
09:34integrating systems together,
09:36bringing digital experience and design forward in Qatar.
09:40All of this, mixing this delivery capability
09:43along with user experience and design
09:45is what is unique about AppLab.
09:47And that is our personal touch,
09:49whether it's me or the brilliant managers
09:53and engineers that we have within AppLab.
09:55One thing that also differentiates AppLab very much
09:58is the culture that we have built.
10:01Up to this moment,
10:02although we are a very huge organization
10:03of 700 plus employees,
10:06we don't have a single closed office.
10:08I work hand in hand with a business analyst,
10:11with a user interface designer,
10:13where we actually review sometimes content together.
10:16When we take projects live,
10:18we are a corporate today,
10:20but we are still working in the spirit of entrepreneurs
10:23and startups that comes with agility,
10:27that comes with the ability really to deliver fast,
10:30high-quality solutions.
10:31We are one of the few digital firms
10:34that have created separate departments
10:36for user experience and future thinking approach
10:41when it comes to digital solutions.
10:44What we started to do recently
10:45is actually outreaching to entities, problems,
10:51and partners who can bring forward
10:54digital transformation within the region,
10:57not to wait for a problem to happen
10:59and to try to solve it.
11:01Tens of our employees are certified
11:04to review, test, and deliver solutions
11:08that are accessible to the visually impaired
11:10or for the different type of disabilities
11:14that is there within the society
11:15to make every digital solution accessible to everyone.
11:19AppLab have built technology in Qatar, by Qatar,
11:23and we are now delivering it outside.
11:26Today, we are being recognized
11:28by international platforms.
11:29We are actually partner of the year of Microsoft.
11:32We are really setting a benchmark.
11:34What we will be doing next
11:35is expanding this worldwide.
11:39Well, it's clear that in the smart cities of the future,
11:42it's not just people in motion.
11:45It's ideas, technology, data, and innovation
11:48that's keeping the entire country moving forward.
11:52Well, that's all the time we have for now.
11:53Thanks for watching Qatar Emotion,
11:55and see you next time.
