Cisco Chairman and chief executive officer John Chambers met with Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned recently announced that the company would establish a research and technology base at Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP).

Cisco plans to invest approximately $40 million in its centre at QSTP over the next three years. As part of this plan Cisco will collaborate with Qatar Foundation on a series of projects to help enable QSTP's vision of transforming Qatar into a knowledge-based economy, while facilitating youth employment across the country.

Qatar Foundation will work with Cisco on the launch of 'Project iQ', a global project aimed at building a collaborative platform comprising business and collaboration applications, including blogs, wikis, TelePresence, social networking and unified messaging. Through utilising technology, the project will allow people from Qatar Foundation, Qatar and across the globe to collaborate on areas of research, education, health and youth employment.

The announcement follows Cisco's recent official recognition as one of the first global strategic technology providers for Qatar's newly launched Youth Employment Initiative, announced by Sheikha Mozah at the UN Alliance for Civilization High Level Group Forum in Madrid on January 15.

QSTP executive chairman, Dr Tidu Maini stated: "Networks are an essential part of business, education, and communications technologies. We are very pleased to embark on a major research initiative with Cisco to help transform Qatar's ability to access and share information across technical and national boundaries."

Paul Mountford, president, Emerging Markets for Cisco said: "Qatar Foundation has earned a well-deserved reputation as a leader in providing innovative solutions and improving the lives of the citizens of Qatar. We are committed to working with Qatar Foundation to help improve the development of human capital and technology by transforming the education strategy through technology in Qatar and across the region."

Through Cisco's capability in being co-located with QSTP, Cisco will share its knowledge and expertise in the industry's leading solutions, working with local partners and customers to introduce Connected Healthcare, Connected Education, Connected Tourism and Real Estate industry solutions throughout Qatar.

During his visit to Qatar, Chambers also attended an education roundtable discussion hosted by Dr Sheikha Al Missned, president of Qatar University. The roundtable addressed the global challenges of creating education systems that can deliver 21st century skills to help drive technology innovation, economic prosperity and social cohesion.

To enhance information technology skills in Qatar, Cisco will provide technical training to local universities, partners and customers as well as offer internship opportunities. Cisco further aims to address the needs of entrepreneurs and small-to-medium business owners at its Entrepreneur Institute. Working with local organisations, the programme will develop or license educational content for entrepreneurs to enable sustainable business growth.

Qatar Science & Technology Park fosters the development and commercialisation of technology in Qatar, a rising star in the Arabian Gulf with the world's third largest gas reserves and a remarkable vision for human development. As part of the renowned Qatar Foundation, founded by the country's Emir, the science park is co-located with campuses of Carnegie Mellon, Texas A&M, Weill Cornell and other premier universities.

Cisco, is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Cisco equipment in the Middle East is supplied by Cisco Systems International BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cisco Systems, Inc.