Review: How the Education City app is a gate to a vibrant world

If you are interested in arts, culture or sports, or if you are just looking for entertainment and a place where you can enjoy your time with family and friends, then Education City is the right place for you, thanks to the various offerings that suits all members of society regardless of their age, abilities, and interests – making it a unique experience that everyone can enjoy.

But how can all these opportunities be grasped given the wide variety of options that come from more than 50 entities at Qatar Foundation (QF)?

This was possible with the launch of the Education City app – a mobile application that was launched by QF in February 2021 to complement its suite of digital platforms. It can be downloaded for free in Arabic and English via Google Play and Apple Store.

This app was developed by a QF alumni-owned company, AppLab. It aims to enable the public to explore everything that takes place within Education City, and follow what suits their interests through in-person options, as well as virtually.

Features and characteristics
The Education City app has a simple design but great functionality. Browsing this platform, the colors, images, and graphics used in its design give an impression of the vibrant environment of Education City. They also reflect a diverse and inclusive element that is the most important characteristic of the Education City community.

The app eliminates the hassle of moving between different platforms and pages to browse events and activities by providing a single platform to explore all of Education City, and enabling the user to closely view those events, with the option to register and participate in them and complete the payment process digitally.

In addition, the app provides the user with the opportunity to create a private profile and link the profiles of members of the same family. This feature makes organizing and accessing the reservations of all family members easier, while enriching and enhancing user experience.

The app also provides a digital space for event and activity organizers within Education City to promote their activities and facilities. It is also worth noting that the availability of the app in both Arabic and English reaffirms its comprehensiveness, and that it is designed to be an accessible platform for all.

Perhaps one of the most prominent features of the Education City app is the ease of digital access. It is designed to ensure that people with special needs can access the many benefits the app has to offer. The app is accredited by the Qatar Assistive Technology Center, Mada, as it meets the specific requirements for a range of challenges, such as visual, physical, cognitive, and age-related impairments and disabilities.

In terms of security features, the Education City app is equipped with an advanced security framework that meets the three main information security dimensions: confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information. This security framework operates under a privacy policy that ensures the confidentiality of the data of all users, and is based on a cloud infrastructure and security layers developed in accordance with best practices and standards.

Features Underdevelopment
Despite the unique features of the Education City app, there are many other features that are still under development, as the Community Engagement team, part of Community Development at QF, is working hard to add more features to ensure an enhanced user experience.

For example, the app lacks an interactive experience between the user and the service provider, as it does not contain a live chat feature to answer users' questions and inquiries in real time, or provide them with direct support, which is a faster and easier interaction method compared to emails. The app also does not provide a space for users to interact by writing comments or rating the app, which can be indicative of the level of user satisfaction.

Another important feature to add is the use of artificial intelligence techniques and services. These services can include, for example, providing virtual tours of events or activities, getting to know Education City in general, or live broadcasting of events and activities.

Additionally, the app relies on electronic payment via credit cards only without the option of using a debit card, and this is one of the features that is currently being considered and developed to meet the needs of all users of the app.

The Education City app in numbers
The Education City app has seen a huge demand in just six months since the launch of app in February. This demand did not only come from the Education City community, but also from all community members in Qatar.

This demand can be seen in the remarkable figures achieved by the app in August 2021. For example, the number of users registered in the app during this period reached 22,000 users – 11 percent of which were QF family members. The figures also show that the percentage of the app users from the target audience – young people, adolescents, and families has reached 51 percent.

In addition, the number of events and activities covered by the Education City App has reached 1,100 events across more than 220 community entertainment facilities in Education City, and the number of registered events has reached more than 15,000 users. On top of that, the app has recorded more than 3,000 reservations of community facilities.

Given the aforementioned information and facts and what these figures and statistics indicate it can be said that the Education City app will be a central piece in everything that QF offers, and will greatly contribute to establishing Education City as a leading destination at the local and international levels, while enhancing QF’s endeavors to create positive impacts and unlock people’s capabilities.