Doha, Qatar: The Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs (Awqaf) announced a strategic partnership with Google Cloud to deliver advanced artificial intelligence projects that accelerate digital transformation across the ministry.
The partnership includes the launch of the Awqaf AI Factory, a unified technology environment featuring high-performance computing infrastructure for data processing and model training, and AI platforms built on the ministry's extensive archives.
The ministry becomes the first government entity to partner with Google Cloud after the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.
Director of Human Resources and Vice Chairman of the Business and Systems Development Committee, Mohammed bin Hassan Al Malki said cooperation began in January 2024, leveraging Google's technologies to enhance administrative efficiency.
He highlighted key initiatives such as the Smart Khateeb Assistant, Media Agent for video generation, Smart Sermon Evaluator, and Real-Time Sermon Translator.
Director of Da'wah and Religious Guidance, Jassim bin Abdullah Al Ali noted that the Smart Sermon Evaluator delivered rapid, high-impact results, identifying assessment aspects beyond traditional methods.
The ministry also migrated Islamweb, one of the world's most visited Islamic platforms, to Google Cloud, strengthening security, scalability, and AI-powered search and fatwa services.
Assistant Director of Mosques, Mohammed bin Abdul Latif Al Mahmoud said the Smart Khateeb Assistant supports preachers with reliable scholarly content, relevant topic suggestions, and human-in-the-loop editing to enhance sermon effectiveness.
Engineering Director at Google Cloud Gulf, Hatem Al Muhandis praised the partnership for demonstrating how AI can preserve Islamic culture while improving operational efficiency, adding that Awqaf is Google Cloud's largest government partner after MCIT
