Hind Zaki, International Partnerships at Qatar Research, Development, and Innovation (QRDI) Council.
Doha, Qatar: The Web Summit Qatar has provided the platform to showcase Qatar’s opportunities in research and innovation to the world, said an industry expert.
The event has paved the way for local entities to connect with global partners, promising future collaborations, according to Hind Zaki, International Partnerships at Qatar Research, Development, and Innovation (QRDI) Council.
“Web Summit Qatar showcases Qatar’s exciting opportunities in research and innovation to the world. With 15,000 attendees, many from outside - it’s a bit like the World Cup but for tech and innovation,” she told The Peninsula.
“It’s a fantastic event, showcasing Qatar to the world, but also offering us a fantastic opportunity to connect globally and explore what the world has to offer and bring it to Doha,” she added.
Zaki anticipates that many Web Summit Qatar participants will return to build collaborations in research and innovation. “Many people have come to Doha for the first time... but we believe that by showcasing what Qatar has to offer – our programmes as well as others – they will return and eventually establish themselves here,” she said. The first edition of Web Summit Qatar has attracted more than 15,000 attendees interested in tech and innovation, managing to attract 1,000 startups from around the world.
“We find it fascinating because QRDI is an entity locally powered but globally connected; being globally connected and attracting global startups is one component that we are trying to achieve in Qatar,” said Zaki.
QRDI Council is the Web Summit Qatar’s Strategic Partner, and Exclusive Partner of the Corporate Innovation Summit Day. A large pavilion is hosting a lineup of activities to foster engagement and collaboration. Also QRDI is showcasing its work with local partners and diplomatic missions.
“We signed an agreement with Alchemist Accelerator to launch an Alchemist Doha programme. The QRDI has launched the Industry Innovation Challenge (IIC) in collaboration with Milaha, a pioneering initiative aimed at fostering open innovation on a broader scale. We are also launching a knowledge industry initiative with the UK embassy and QRDI hosted a panel discussion on Life Sciences in collaboration with the Swedish embassy,” said Zaki.
She mentioned that the experience and connections established during the Web Summit Qatar would be leveraged to drive meaningful actions forward.
“Every single connection we have made at the Web Summit Qatar, we are trying to capture and make sure we do something with those connections – weather its collaboration, future partnerships, beneficiaries, applicants to our different porgrammes, connections between research and innovation or just supporting startups to come to Qatar,” said Zaki.
