DOHA, QATAR: Last week, the Internet Society and ISOC Qatar, in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar and ictQATAR, hosted the Rise of the Arab Information Society, a one-day conference focusing on the importance of connecting regional Internet communities throughout the Arab region.

The Internet Society holds multiple INETs every year, each with a unique regional focus and a selection of topics most relevant to the communities involved.

This is the first INET conference held in the Gulf.

In her keynote address, Hessa Al Jaber, ictQATAR's secretary general said: "It's vitally important for Qatar and the rest of the Arab world to have a voice in the ongoing development of the Internet. ISOC will play an integral role in this development and the more we can work together as a region, the more successful we will be."

ISOC Qatar was launched at QITCOM, Qatar ICT Conference and Exhibition, earlier this year with a vision to make the Internet in Qatar inclusive and accessible- giving everyone the opportunity to enhance his or her personal and professional lives.

The Qatar Chapter, which already has more than 300 members, is one of more than 90 Internet Society Chapters around the globe working to identify and address the challenges and opportunities that exist online.

A number of these key challenges were addressed at the INET Qatar conference, with participants discussing topics such as Arab businesses on the Internet, the development of online Arabic content, and how the Internet is governed in the Arab World.

High profile regional speakers at the event included Qusai Al-Shatti, Deputy Chairman of Kuwait Information Technology; Imad Hoballah, Chairman and CEO of the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority in Lebanon; and Khaled Koubaa, Policy Manager for Google in North Africa.

Carnegie Mellon professors Daniel Phelps and George White facilitated Q&A sessions with CMU students during the conference.

Leading Internet experts, Professor William Dutton of Oxford University and Taylor Reynolds, Senior Economist at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development also took part in the event.

For more information on INET Qatar: The Rise of the Arab Information Society please visit: www.internetsociety.org/events/inet-qatar.