 This deserted beach in Qatar might not look anything special, but out to sea, something of a revolution is underway. Offshore, miles of underwater cables are being laid, carrying a brand new fibre optic connection. Come September, all the Gulf states as well as Iraq and Iran will be hooked up and the region will enjoy broadband speeds that most can only dream of. It's here on this remote beach where Qatar's fibre optic cable will come to shore. The connection will be super fast, up to 10 gigabits per second. That's hundreds of times faster than even the very best connection in the country today. Qatar is a country in transition. It's grown rich thanks to huge gas reserves, but is trying to diversify and become a knowledge-based economy instead, exporting research and innovation. The man behind this new fibre optic system says it will help bridge the technology gap between the Gulf and its competitors in Asia and the West. The gap is there, and a project like ours is one of the projects that we need others more to help to just minimise or make it a much smaller gap and to be one of the world's superpowers. We deserve to be in that position and we have the qualifications, but we need to work. Qatar is a tiny country, but its citizens are big on technology. Mobile penetration here is 150%, the highest in the world, and 7 out of 10 people have broadband at home. But in such a young economy, the real challenge is making sure end users don't just consume, but actually generate content worth exporting to. Web entrepreneurs Basam and Halifa are two of Qatar's digital poster boys, who are helping turn the country from online consumer to producer. People are going to start using the internet even more, which means they're going to get the knowledge and the know-how of how to get around on the intertubes, which hopefully means they're going to start wanting to create their own little pages on the internet. Once people start creating their own pages, then that means more people start to compete with each other, people start to realise the business opportunities behind creating original content. The last piece of the puzzle is super fast internet, and that's what we're going to get. It's like jumping from a horse straight into a fire and just boom. But connectivity is not just about making money. Man United fan Mohammed Ali is using the latest web-based software to communicate using just his eyes. This new centre for assisted technology is helping the disabled access digital content on the net. One of many ways in which research and technology here are being used for more than just doing business. I think I'm alive now, because if I don't have this technology, assistive technology, how can I connect with people? How can I contact them? It did a lot for me. But the real benefit of a fibre optic system is that knowledge and know-how generated here can be shared instantly around the world. One of the exciting things that broadband access lets us do is actually to use that technology to collaborate, to share and to communicate with other research organisations around the world. It's not just about connecting with technology. It's not just about connecting with the internet. Ultimately, it's about connecting with people and knowledge. Powerful broadband will help Qatar become a hub for business and communications, but the wheels are also now in motion to bring about much wider change in the country as well.