As the curtains close on the Web Summit Qatar 2024, the world’s largest technology event which was held in Doha for the first time in the Middle East and Africa, Qatar Foundation (QF) entities concluded their participation with resounding success.

Reflecting on the pivotal role the organisation plays in shaping the future of technology and innovation in the region, QF entities engaged with over 12,000 entrepreneurs, investors and tech enthusiasts from around the world, giving attendees valuable insights into the organisation’s initiatives and contributions to Qatar’s innovation ecosystem.

At QF’s Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP) pavilion, attendees had the opportunity to explore a comprehensive suite of programmes aimed at nurturing tech start-ups and fostering innovation-driven entrepreneurship in Qatar. 

At the start-up island, they were able to discover QSTP’s diverse range of offerings and engage with supported start-ups, while the Demo Day witnessed budding innovators showcasing their ideas to a live audience of investors, tech leaders and mentors.

Jack Lau, President of QSTP, said: “Over the years, we have helped over 100 start-ups transform their ideas into robust solutions that are making a difference in people’s lives. QSTP has also been home to more than 20 multinational companies who leverage our enriching ecosystem and research and development facilities to develop solutions tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges.

“Our participation in Web Summit Qatar 2024 echoes our longstanding commitment to technology development and sustainable innovation. A number of start-ups under our ecosystem showcased their inventions at this landmark event. We are proud to help facilitate exciting opportunities for them to network and learn from global tech leaders, and hopefully forge partnerships that can potentially be transformative in their growth and impact.”

At the Summit, WISE, an initiative by QF, participated in a panel discussion titled Fostering Educational Innovation: Introducing the New WISE Prize for Education. This session offered valuable perspectives on the WISE Prize, a worldwide competition designed to support finalists in cultivating impactful education solutions over the course of a year.

“I am excited to introduce the new WISE Prize for Education, a global competition that challenges social innovators to design solutions for three key education challenges: improving the teaching of Arabic language, accelerating foundational literacies and addressing challenges in Artificial Intelligence,” said Elyas Felfoul, Director of Policy Development & Partnerships at WISE.

“In our session, we based these areas as key pillars of our conversation alongside experts in the field of education and innovation, who shared their insights and perspectives on how to create impactful and scalable solutions.”

Attending the WISE panel discussion was Naimah, who said: “Having the end-user in mind is key to a successful solution. Offering a product or a service not just in English but also in Arabic, in the case of the MENA region, makes a huge difference for someone like a student.”

Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), a member of QF, was also present at the summit. Through the presentation of innovative technologies developed within its research ecosystem, showcasing promising start-ups and engaging in interactive sessions led by HBKU’s researcher, faculty and student communities on artificial intelligence, sustainability, healthcare and many other topics, HBKU highlighted its work in promoting entrepreneurship and addressing global challenges.

Dr. Nadir Yildirim, Executive Director Office of Innovation and Industrial Relations at HBKU, said: “Web Summit Qatar 2024 provided the perfect opportunity to show how our commitment has evolved and been strengthened by a strong pipeline of dynamic commerciable technologies and start-ups originating from or supported by the university.

“To this end, the eight start-ups and eight technologies showcased at the Summit only scratch the surface of our innovation and entrepreneurship potential.”