Labour ministry unveils AI initiative in New York

Sheikha Najwa bint Abdul Rahman Al Thani, the supervisor of the Expatriate Labour Affairs sector in the Ministry of Labour (MoL), highlighted Qatar’s revolutionary efforts in adopting trailblazing technology and integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) to achieve the goals set forth in the Qatar National Vision 2030.

Speaking at a side event organised by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in New York, USA, as part of the 2023 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, she emphasised the collaborative efforts of government agencies, academic institutions and the private sector in this technological advancement.

The event was organised under the title ‘Pushing Boundaries and AI to accelerate the SDGs in the Arab Region’. she presented the experience of the MoL in this field, as the ministry launched its digital transformation strategy last year, which focused on the use of AI to enhance services in line with the broader objectives of the QNV 2030 to upgrade labour sector management and raise the customer satisfaction index in the ministry.

Sheikha Najwa highlighted several key initiatives for AI in the MoL, such as the Labour Market Information System (LMIS) initiative, which aids in monitoring progress towards global goals like the Sustainable Development Goals. The LMIS also enables assessing the impact of initiatives and policies, facilitating evidence-based decision-making and continuous improvement.

She said. “In view of the demographic composition of the country and the needs of the future labour market, the ‘matching tool and nationalization platform’ initiative was launched. The other initiative was the Ministry of Labour’s partnership contracts with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), Microsoft, and PricewaterhouseCoopers Middle East in Qatar, to create an innovative software and AI algorithm/model that serves the localization programme,” she said.

“Its interactive nature calculates localization percentages in a manner tailored to each company in Qatar, to balance the economic impact on business, and minimise any potential negative impact on both the sector and the government. ESCWA supported the MoLin tasks related to creating labour market analyses and discovering revolution skills and the fourth industrial sector in Qatar, as well as the development of a state-of-the-art matching platform for nationals based on the ESCWA Skills Monitoring Programme,” she added.

Her speech garnered praise from delegates representing various nations, who commended Qatar’s efforts. Discussions on intensified cooperation and knowledge sharing, particularly in tackling shared challenges, were spurred by her speech. The adoption of technological and AI advancements featured prominently in the ministry’s initiatives and is seen as a way to expedite the realisation of SDGs.