NAQ, Microsoft partner todigitise national documents
Doha
The National Archives of Qatar (NAQ) has signed a strategic cooperation framework with Microsoft Qatar to digitise and facilitate access to national documents.
NAQ Secretary-General Dr Ahmed Abdullah Al Buainain said the move enhances institutional knowledge, preserves national identity and supports decision-making in line with the sustainability and governance pillars of Qatar National Vision 2030. He added the partnership is part of NAQ's 2025–2030 strategy that seeks an integrated document management system based on digital transformation, innovation and sustainability.
Dr Al Buainain elaborated that the cooperation continues the innovative initiatives undertaken by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to drive economic growth, improve the quality of public services, and foster a culture of creativity to advance national innovation.
Meanwhile, Microsoft Qatar General Manager Lana Khalaf took her pride in the partnership, hailing NAQ's endeavors to leverage technology to protect national memory.
Through Microsoft Azure's cloud technologies and artificial intelligence applications, Microsoft is contributing to the development of an advanced, sustainable, and secure digital preservation system, she said.
Khalaf affirmed that this collaboration reflects Microsoft's commitment to empowering Qatari institutions to enhance their digital capabilities and to provide cloud infrastructure that supports development and innovation, in line with the highest standards of security and digital sovereignty.
In this context, NAQ Assistant Secretary-General Aisha Al Saad said the partnership with Microsoft would develop research initiatives that meet the needs of institutions, with a focus on security, efficiency, and sustainability.
The project digitizes both print and digital newspapers, as well as social media archives, as part of a vision aimed at enriching national content and facilitating access for researchers and interested individuals.
Work is also underway to develop a unified digital platform that will offer more than 32 services in the coming years, including document registration, restoration, research requests, interaction with experts, and electronic access to national records. The platform will feature advanced search tools, contribute to improving the efficiency of services provided, and reduce reliance on paper-based procedures.
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