Sustainable connectivity: Ooredoo’s ambitions for innovative and green telecoms

Transcript

Ooredoo Group, World Finance’s winner for Best Corporate Governance in Qatar for both 2023 and 2024, hosted its first Digital Ecosystem Conference last year; exploring themes from AI to cybersecurity and industry best practices. Hilal Al-Khulaifi explains how Ooredoo intends to thrive over the next five years of technology transformation, by partnering innovation with robust ESG policies to build a sustainable future for telecoms.

Watch more videos from this interview: on how Ooredoo is working with international organisations to advance telecoms standards and policies, and uniting the whole group under a renewed and robust corporate governance framework.

World Finance: Now you mentioned earlier that your upgraded governance framework is designed to enhance Ooredeoo’s sustainability – tell me more about your ESG policies.

Hilal Al-Khulaifi: Well, we are currently finalising a comprehensive ESG policy aligned with global best practices. This policy reflects valuable insights and suggestions from all our operating companies worldwide.

During its formulation, we thoroughly reviewed international environmental, social, and governance standards, so our policy is structured to provide uniformity and consistency in ESG practices across all Ooredoo entities, promoting a cohesive sustainability strategy. Additionally, we commit to annually reviewing and updating the policy; this will ensure it will remain relevant, impactful, and aligned with emerging global sustainability trends.

World Finance: Now, you recently hosted your first Digital Ecosystem Conference – what were the highlights of the event, and what are your plans moving forward?

Hilal Al-Khulaifi: Well, the DEC 2024 was an astonishing success, gathering nearly 1,000 participants, including prominent global industry leaders and government. The key highlights included the presence of his excellency the Minister of Communications and Information Technology in Qatar, who officially opened the conference.

Discussions centered around critical topics such as AI’s transformative impact on telecoms, digital policy formulation, cybersecurity, data privacy, and industry best practices.

Due to its success, we are excited to announce plans for the second edition of DEC next year inshallah, aiming for an even greater impact and wider international participation. Our goal is to continuously expand our reach, attract more global stakeholders, and encourage deeper conversations around critical digital trends shaping our world.

World Finance: Given the truly transformative technologies that we’re watching emerge today, what do you envision for the next five years of the telecoms industry, and Ooredoo’s position within it?

Hilal Al-Khulaifi: Well, in the next five years, transformative technologies will reshape the telecom industry. Ooredoo aims to thrive by focusing on three key areas.

Firstly, we will actively support digital initiatives such as e-government, e-health, e-learning, and smart cities across the MENA region and Asia.

Secondly, we will focus on building partnerships with global tech leaders like Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure, and leveraging our own data centre company, Syntys, to lead regional innovation through AI-driven platforms and tailored digital solutions for governments and enterprises.

Finally, as I mentioned, we will enhance our commitment to sustainability by expanding green networks, energy-efficient infrastructure, and providing connectivity to underserved communities, promoting inclusive digital growth.
Overall, Ooredoo aims to remain at the forefront of digital transformation, innovation, and sustainability in telecoms.