Research, development, innovation became third side of ‘the QF triangle’
Research, development, and innovation are the cornerstones of Qatar Foundation (QF), and the roots of the organisation’s commitment to fostering it stretch back more than 25 years ago to the point of its establishment.
QF aimed to foster a new culture of scientific research in Qatar, with the aim of making the country a hub for research and innovation, and a destination for scientists across the Arab world.
From its beginnings, QF has believed that science, research, and innovation are a vital pillar in building a sustainable, diversified economy; one in which researchers and innovators can develop pioneering solutions that address national challenges while also having the potential for global impact.
QF’s leadership anticipated tomorrow, and responded by creating Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP), Qatar National Research Fund, national research institutes and a series of initiatives and programmes that drive innovative breakthroughs and inspire.
During The Untold Stories of Qatar Foundation, AbdulRedha AbdulRahman, who played an instrumental role in the establishment of QSTP, said: “The idea of Qatar Science & Technology Park was born from the name of the institution of which it would be part: Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development.
“I began to think about the importance of community development, and having an educated Qatari society that conceived innovative ideas grounded in the reality of current and future needs. We recognised that we needed quality education to meet the aspirations of the community in Qatar.
“So, when thinking about QF, community development forms the base of the triangle, education is the second side, and research is the third side that completes the QF triangle.”
AbdulRahman explained how the RDI landscape that QF created came from realisation of
Qatar’s need for research focusing on gas-related technology, and converting liquefied natural gas into materials that could add economic and intellectual value.
“We emphasised the importance of creating a destination for innovation, both for researchers and graduates of Education City universities, where academic professors and scientists would work side by side with graduates and students, especially in the field of chemical engineering,” he said. “The aim was to conduct research related to the production of materials that could generate economic benefit and added value for Qatar and its people.
“To build this model, we visited several science and technology parks that were in the process of development, in order to assess what we need while always considering the vision for QF. We travelled to scientific facilities in the US state of North Carolina; the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford in the UK, and Virginia Commonwealth University in the US. And at that time, we realised that we were moving in the right direction towards the localisation of knowledge, because we were looking to promote a culture of innovation in Qatar in order to meet our national needs.”
The importance of QF’s innovation TV show Stars of Science in this process of RDI culturebuilding was also emphasised during The Untold Stories of Qatar Foundation. Launched in 2009, its aim was to empower a new generation of Arab innovators, with its creation reflecting the popularity of ‘reality’ TV programmes among the region’s youth.
Dr Sheikha Abdulla al-Misnad highlighted: “The relationship between QF and national institutions is close and integrated, because QF was established to support the development process of the country.
“For example, QF provides support to national institutions within the health sector, as there are many joint projects and research between QF partner universities and institutions such as Qatar University and Hamad Medical Corporation; and continuous cooperation with ministries.”
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Tomorrow was made at Qatar Foundation,” Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation (QF), told a special panel discussion aired on Qatar TV yesterday on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of QF.
The event explored the impact of QF on a nation as the organisation’s very first days were revisited by those instrumental in turning a vision into reality.
The Untold Stories of QF saw Her Highness Sheikha Moza, who envisioned and founded QF in 1995 with the support of His Highness the Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, give unprecedented insight into why QF was established and the belief that made it happen.
Joined by the central figures in QF’s establishment 26 years ago, the panel recounted the plans, challenges, goals, and milestones that lined the path to creating a globally unique ecosystem of education, science and research, and community development.
“Our belief in the success of Qatar Foundation as a project was deep-rooted, despite the challenges and curves that we faced at the beginning of our journey more than 25 years ago,” she said. “In 2005, on the day Education City opened, we promised that tomorrow would be here. And, indeed, tomorrow was made at Qatar Foundation.
“We never looked at Qatar Foundation’s projects, centres, and initiatives as being there to serve a specific geographical area. We thought of it as ArabIslamic renaissance project, based in Qatar, to promote sustainable development in the Arab world, by creating positive change from an academic, research, and societal perspective.”
She spoke of how QF’s first school, Qatar Academy – established in 1996 – was born of “two dimensions.” “The first came from my role as a mother who had concerns about the education of my children, and the second was national, reflected by our role in the development of society,” she told the discussion, filmed at QF’s former headquarters.
“At the time, I realised we were facing a national challenge related to education, and we needed to make a radical change in the educational system by providing advanced, quality education – based on the logical analysis and rational deduction that were central to previous Arab civilisations and applied in Western civilisations, while at the same time preserving our heritage, language, and national identity.
“The Qatar Academy project grew and developed, and it was necessary to continue the process of progress by building the components of higher education and a culture of scientific research at QF, to support the development of our community.”
Her Highness explained that originally it was planned to establish a single university at QF. “But we asked ourselves about the effectiveness of repeating experiments that had not succeeded in many societies,” she said.
“We recognised that every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end, so we started to attract prestigious international universities to Qatar according to the disciplines that met national needs, in order to provide an ecosystem based on creativity and innovation which enables us to cultivate, localise, and reproduce knowledge.
“One of the challenges we faced during our negotiations with international universities was their questions about the academic level of our students. But our belief in human capabilities in Qatar and the Arab region was solid. We knew that if these young people were given the right educational environment and the right opportunities, the world would witness their achievements. And that is what we see today.”
Another challenge facing QF as it evolved, she said was “building a culture of scientific research” in Qatar. “We believe that innovation is the basis of the philosophy of Qatar Foundation.
“We wanted Qatar Foundation to be an incubator for scientists, researchers, and innovators across the Arab world and worldwide, because we recognise that scientific research continues as long as human life continues.”
Among the key figures in QF’s establishment who spoke at event was HE Yousef Hussain Kamal, former Minister of Economy and Finance, who said: “Successful economic models have been built in many developed countries, such as Japan and Singapore, that do not have natural resources but invested in minds.
“Nurturing engineers, physicians, diplomats, and others at Education City was a successful investment idea designed to support the goal of economic development, instead of having a reliance on scholarships abroad for knowledge acquisition. What we needed was to produce knowledge.”
HE Dr Ibrahim al-Ibrahim explained how “the model of the ecosystem we looked to build did not exist anywhere else in the world at that time”, saying: “This increased the challenges and difficulties, as our goal was to attract international universities based on their excellence in the majors we needed – especially the oil and gas industry – to support the development of Qatar.”
The discussion also heard from Sheikha Dr Abdulla al-Misnad, who said: “The QF project, with all its aspirations, was new for us, and for the world. In the beginning, there were some tensions, which is normal when starting a project of such local, regional, and international scale as QF.
“However, the determination of QF’s leadership to achieve the vision for this foundation created a national motivation, so that the vision for QF became our vision as Qataris, and we worked to implement it to support the renaissance of Qatar.”
During the programme, Dr Saif al-Hajri emphasised: “QF has been built on such solid pillars as national identity, supporting the ambitions of our children and the aspirations of their families, and achieving a balance between openness based on global experiences, and preserving our heritage and values.”
And in a specially-recorded video message, Dr Fathy Saoud, the former president of QF, said: “We tirelessly knocked on doors during our negotiations with the most prestigious international universities, to build cooperation and partnerships with them. And we succeeded, until we reached the day when the doors of QF were being knocked upon by wellknown international universities keen to establish partnerships with Qatar.”
Meanwhile, AbdulRedha AbdulRahman told the programme – moderated by journalist Khadija Benguenna – how the idea for QF’s Qatar Science & Technology Park innovation hub came from recognising that “the sustainability of education requires the existence of scientific and technological research”.