Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, the organising committee for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, has launched a new smartphone app for stadium construction workers.
The app is designed to improve workers’ professional and personal lives during their time in Qatar and has been initiated by the SC’s Worker’s Welfare Department and Special Projects Office in collaboration with the Qatar Innovation Community.
The SC said the app, which is called ‘Madad – SC Workers’, has been developed in response to the “overwhelming” number of workers who use smartphones. It has been rolled out to all 22,000 workers who are currently engaged on infrastructure projects, following an initial pilot with 250 workers. ‘Madad’ means ‘help’ in Arabic and Hindi.
Oscar Liebana, the SC’s Projects Advisor, has worked with local technology company A101 to develop the app. Workers at Lusail Stadium were asked for their feedback on the features, functionality and design of the app during its development phase.
Features of the app include streamlined finance and remittance options, communication with family and friends, increased awareness of leisure and social activities, access to health and nutrition advice, access to SC’s work grievance hotline, surveys, storage of personal documents, access to emergency telephone numbers, and locations of maps, ATMs, parks and health centres.
Mahmoud Qutub, the SC’s Workers’ Welfare executive director, said: “This app helps us to provide support for workers whenever and wherever they need it. It also allows us to establish direct communication with them, which we know from experience is vital. The introduction of an app designed specifically for workers is yet another example of the SC using innovation to protect the welfare of workers building stadiums for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.”
Liebana added: “Involving the workers from the very beginning was the key to designing an app that would be beneficial to them. Their feedback was critical and has led to the first version of an app that should enhance many aspects of their life in Qatar.”
Image: Supreme Committee
