In the context of promoting innovation and entrepreneurship in the State of Qatar, the Center for Entrepreneurship and Organizational Excellence (CEOE) at the College of Business and Economics (CBE) at Qatar University (QU) organized the National Entrepreneurship Competition for 2024, "Al-Fikra," in its second edition.
The competition was organized in collaboration with the Qatar Development Bank (QDB) and was attended by a large number of faculty members from various universities and figures from governmental and non-governmental institutions. This competition aimed to open doors for Qatari youth to enter the business world and encourage them to present innovative ideas that contribute to the economic and social development of the state.
The competition provides a unique platform for young people to showcase their projects and entrepreneurial ideas in front of a group of distinguished experts and investors, enabling them to receive the necessary financial and advisory support to turn these winning projects into realistic and viable projects to ensure their success and sustainability in the market.
In a statement, Dean of the College of Business and Economics at QU Prof. Rana Sobh said, "This national competition in the field of entrepreneurship includes students from various universities in Qatar, encompassing both students and faculty members from all colleges. The competition serves as a vital platform to support and develop individuals' entrepreneurial skills and also contributes to enhancing the entrepreneurial culture not only within the university campus among students and faculty members but also within the entire community." Prof. Sobh added, "The competition greatly benefits students, especially since the program includes an extensive training journey. All participating teams start their journey with a simple idea without prior business or market study experience, and then they learn the necessary skills to develop their ideas during this intensive training journey. They also have the opportunity to build a supportive incubator from either the state or private companies to adopt these ideas." For his part, QDB's Executive Director of Advisory and Incubation, Dr. Hamad Salem Mejegheer stated: "With each new edition of the "Al-Fikra" competition, we feel the importance of this type of initiative due to the entrepreneurial and innovative ideas we witness from our young people in universities. As the strategic partner of the "Al-Fikra" competition, we strive to enhance the environment of innovation and entrepreneurship and commit to developing and refining talents through continuous cooperation with educational institutions and active community entities to prepare a distinguished generation in entrepreneurship capable of contributing to enriching and developing the national economy." Director of the CEOE at QU, Dr. Said El Banna said, "The competition is specifically directed at university individuals, including students, faculty members, and staff. It particularly focused on technological aspects, which was clearly evident through the projects presented, which were entirely technical." Dr. El Banna added, "The competition witnessed the participation of more than 450 people, with a total exceeding 190 teams. The winners were from various universities in Qatar, confirming the role of QU as a mother university that embraces all these universities in collaboration with QDB to ensure the success of the event. We hope that the coming editions will be even more distinguished." The competition witnessed the victory of three teams from each category: the PitchDeck team from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) won third place, the AgriCope team from the University of Doha for Science and Technology (UDST) took second place, and the ScopeClear team from Weill Cornell Medical College (WCM-Q) secured first place in the student category.
In the faculty category, the My:Aid team from Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) won third place, the INVICARE team from QU won second place, and the HematoScreen team from HBKU won first place.
