Dr. Alar Kolk (left) and Dr. Richard O’Kennedy Pics: Baher Amin/The Peninsula
Some 190 ‘techpreneurs’, aspiring technology entrepreneurs, representing pan-Arab region gathered at the Education City Student Centre at the opening third edition of Arab Innovation Academy (AIA), yesterday.
AIA is the first and the largest entrepreneurship programme in the pan-Arab region made possible by an exclusive partnership between Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP) and the European Innovation Academy (EIA).
The AIA aims to promote young talent and foster innovative ideas by providing a platform that offers hands-on learning in ‘how to start a business from scratch’, within 10 days, through guidance and mentorship from world-renowned experts.
In this edition, almost 50 percent of the participants are Qataris and others from countries including Kuwait, Oman, Tunisia, Palestine and Algeria. Many of the participants applied locally through the universities in the country. They have been selected from more than 800 applications.
Speaking at the opening session, Dr Richard O’Kennedy, Vice-President for Research, Development, and Innovation at Qatar Foundation (QF) emphasised that AIA help to identify talented Arab youth who have a drive to find innovative tech-based solutions to the shared challenges this region is facing, and become an integrated component of the rapidly developing entrepreneurship ecosystem and knowledge economy in Qatar.
“Programmes like AIA develop a whole new society and way of approaching innovation within this region and globally,” he said.
Dr O’Kennedy also stressed the importance of mentorship in shaping ideas and creating an ideal ecosystem for innovation in the region.
Over the next ten days, participants at AIA will be exposed to real-life experiences and experiments on how to develop and launch new tech ventures, in a real marketplace with real customer feedback. They will learn from more than 40 coaches with some coming from US, UK & EU, Singapore, in addition to the regional and local mentors.
Dr. Alar Kolk, President of EIA, in the keynote speech on ‘10x Ambition’ pointed out that the innovative product should be 10 times better than the existing products, not just 10 percent better. Eventually, he encouraged students should not be afraid of failure. If one has learnt something from failures earlier, the costs of failure in the future will be lower. The young should be brave in innovation, not be afraid of failure.
“Any new project, any new startup that you will begin form this programme will change the region and we hope it will change the world,” he said. The AIA goes in line with QSTP and QF RDI’s efforts in the field of innovation mindset education, which aims to foster a competitive and innovative technology entrepreneurship ecosystem in Qatar and the wider region.
The number of graduates from the first and second editions of the program is over 300 students. Participants in previous editions of AIA came from 30+ nationalities, including and not limited to: Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen, Sudan, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, India, Russia, and many other nationalities that are studying at and resident of Qatar.
In 2019 AIA received 948 applicants, and accepted 196 participants, and 127 participants were selected from more than 200 applications in 2018. To date AIA has more than 300 alumni from more than 30 different nationalities.
A group of alumni also shared their experience with AIA during the openings session of third edition.
The AIA is supported by cutting-edge research methods developed by leading global universities and companies such as UC Berkeley, Stanford University, QSTP, Google, and Amadeus.
