The 2022 FIFA World Cup is
inspiring innovation in Qatar.Advertiser retains sole responsibility for content S15ADVERTISEMENT FEATURETheodore Roosevelt may not
have had Qatar or soccer in
mind when he said those words.
But his can-do spirit is alive,
well and getting ready for the
world’s premier sporting event.
When Qatar was named
host of the 2022 FIFA World
Cup, it signed up to a series
of ambitious pledges that the
tournament would be the most
sustainable — and the most-
connected — in history. Making
those promises a reality has
proven to be a signifi cant spur
to innovation in the small host
country. Those innovations
look not only to make the
tournament a better experience
for fans and the environment,
but to benefi t people in Qatar
and beyond for years to come.
In 2009, the Gulf
Organization for Research
and Development (GORD),
based at the Qatar Science and
Technology Park, developed
the green building Global
Sustainability Assessment
System (GSAS) standards
that guided the design and
build process for the eight
FIFA stadiums. Adopted by
the organizing committee andapproved by FIFA after review
by an independent expert panel,
the GSAS standards have been
e ective in guiding stadium
construction to outcomes.
As a result, the stadiums
will see an energy savings
of 45% compared to being
designed to meet standards
set by the American Society
of Heating, Refrigerating and
Air-Conditioning Engineers, and
they will use 44% less water
compared to ones designed to
International Plumbing Code
standards.
Plus, the plans have won
over some skeptics. “Purely
in environmental terms,” a
Guardian online columnist wrote
in September, “the blueprint
of the fi rst such showpiece
staged in the Middle East not
only looks miles ahead of the
curve but a decent template for
major 21st-century high-density
sporting events.”
Fans arriving in 2022 will
be kept comfortable in other
innovative ways, as well. The
Qatar Mobility Innovations
Center (QMIC) has used its
Internet-of-Things platform
to connect a series of sensorsaround Qatar’s capital city
that will make it easier for
fans to plan the best route
using real-time information
about tra c, taxis, the new
Metro system and even venue
entrances and exits. Visitorswill be able to download a
custom smartphone app made
by QMIC, also based at the
Qatar Science and Technology
Park, that will use this real
time information to make their
journey to stadiums much
less stressful. The system
was tested in May 2019 when
fans travelling to the Amir
Cup Final football match at
the Zaha Hadid-designed Al
Janoub Stadium were able to
use an earlier version of the
application, whether travelling
by car or by the newly-opened
Metro Red Line.
Connectivity innovations
under development evenextend to wearable electronics.
Amine Bermak, a professor at
Hamad Bin Khalifa University
at the Qatar Foundation, is
printing low-power sensors
directly on fabric. The sensors
will measure heartbeat,
respiration and hydration in
a snug-fi tting shirt using an
approach that connects each
shirt via Bluetooth to others
around it and ultimately to a
base station. Currently in a
pilot phase with wearables
worn by construction
workers and the cost of the
low-power sensor at less than
$20 per unit, Bermak envisions
applications where the vital-
signs data are used in real
time for a variety of scenarios
from athletes to hospital
patients.
Qatar is making the most
of its opportunity to innovate
prompted by the World Cup.
But the legacy of this culture of
invention promises to endure
long after the last soccer fan
has left the fi nal match in
Lusail Stadium.FANS ARRIVING
IN 2022 WILL
BE KEPT
COMFORTABLE
IN INNOVATIVE
WAYSWORLD CUP I N N O VAT I O N
“Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell ‘em, ‘Certainly I can!’ Then get busy and find
out how to do it.”Image: ©Sean Nel - stock.adobe.comUntitled-1360 1 28/10/2019 18:04