The National Planning Council hosts the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Municipality to discuss digital transformation in municipal services and food security

The National Planning Council convened a podcast discussion with His Excellency Eng. Ali bin Mohammed Al Ali, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Municipality, to explore the nation's digital transformation efforts and strategies for ensuring food security. The fifth episode of Podcast AlTanmiya covered a range of topics, from the Ministry's initiatives to bolster Qatar's food security system and supply chains, to the planting of ten million trees, to the digitization of public services via the Oun application.

His Excellency confirmed that despite the regional crisis, local markets have not experienced any shortages of food supplies since late February. The Ministry now issues residential villa building permits within a single day, down from over thirty days, using artificial intelligence. The episode delved into the Ministry's role in achieving the objectives of the Third National Development Strategy and Qatar National Vision 2030, highlighting the committee's weekly monitoring of food security policy implementation.

The Undersecretary underscored Qatar's remarkable achievements in ensuring food security, with the country attaining 100% self-sufficiency in dairy and 99.9% in fresh poultry. This success is attributed to regulations that have bolstered local production. Regarding the system's readiness, His Excellency mentioned that no food shortages have been recorded since the crisis began six months ago, with shelves in stores remaining fully stocked.

The Ministry has embraced artificial intelligence in the processing of residential villa building permits, trained on all relevant requirements and regulations. This technology is expected to expand to other services, including public cleanliness, building inspections, and even the creation of digital twins for simulating entire cities before decisions are made.

Additionally, the Ministry has digitized nearly 29 million documents, with all reports, whether received via telephone, the Oun application, or social media, handled through a unified call center and prioritized according to their importance. Customer satisfaction stands at 86%, with nearly one million requests processed through the Oun application in 2025, surpassing 800,000 downloads.

The discussion also addressed the Ministry's updated building requirements for residential villas, which aim to accommodate Qatari families' needs. The minimum plot size has been reduced to 400 square meters, enabling any new employee to obtain land and build on it. Since the new requirements took effect, only one exemption request has been received by the Ministry.