About QCRI

Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI) is a national research institute, established in 2010 by Qatar Foundation (QF) for Education, Science and Community Development, a private, non-profit organization that is supporting Qatar’s transformation from a carbon economy to a knowledge economy. QCRI operates under the umbrella of Hamad bin Khalifa University (HBKU).

Overview

QCRI supports QF’s mission by helping to build Qatar’s innovation and technology capacity. It is focused on tackling large-scale computing challenges that address national priorities for growth and development.

In doing this, QCRI conducts world-class multidisciplinary computing research that is relevant to the needs of Qatar, the wider Arab region and the world. The institution performs cutting-edge research in such areas as Arabic language technologies, social computing, data analytics and cyber security.

The research conduct at QCRI is aligned with the Qatar National Research Strategy, and supports the strategic priorities outlined in Qatar National Vision 2030.

Excellence

Conduct research of the highest quality and publish research results of indisputable value.

Innovation

Introduce visionary solutions to significant scientific or technological challenges.

Integrity

Create an environment that fosters dedication to honest and ethical research practices and scientific processes.

Leadership

Provide leadership in our areas of expertise to global science, international research communities and local society.

Collaboration

Promote open collaboration among colleagues and with partners.

Impact

Be result-oriented and provide solutions to emerging problems, ensuring alignment with national priorities.

Stakeholders

The primary stakeholders are:

Qatari society, which needs a way to retain its top talent in the field of computer science and to attract top graduates from elsewhere in the region to ensure Qatar’s sustainability in all fields;
Qatari industry, which needs advanced applied research solutions before they are available commercially;
Qatar’s government, which needs working solutions that will meet the growing needs of the country and its people.

QCRI’s research focuses on the future needs of its stakeholders by developing cutting-edge applied computing research, helping to identify specific problems and generating tested, proven solutions.

QCRI works closely with both research institutes and universities in Qatar which perform fundamental research by working together to advance their most promising basic research findings.

QCRI also works closely with Qatar Science & Technology Park to identify the most viable commercial applications generated by the its research.

Partners and Collaborators

Great scientific research was once done by a few individuals, often working in isolation. For example, over one thousand years ago the great Arab scholar Ibn al Haytham performed the first systematic, verifiable scientific experiments alone, under house arrest, in a bare room in Cairo. That kind of research has gone the way of the astrolabe and camera obscura.

Today’s leading-edge scientific research is done collaboratively by teams of researchers. It takes an organization of a certain size to tackle large-scale computing challenges. It also takes synchronized collaboration to provide the kind of continuity over time to bring promising research to fruition.

To realize our objectives and to meet the growing needs of Qatar, we have partnered with leading research organizations, labs and academic institutions worldwide. Together, we are tackling grand challenges in computing research.