QSTP playing key role in fostering entrepreneurship, innovation among youth

Ahead of the 41st IASP World Conference on Science Parks and Areas of Innovation, taking place in Nairobi, Kenya, from Sept 24-27, Dr Jack Lau, President of Qatar Foundation’s Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP), shared insights with Gulf Times on why he feels that QSTP is central to playing a role in advancing entrepreneurship and innovation amongst youth in Qatar, in line with the country’s national priorities.Q1. Why is it so crucial, particularly in countries across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena), that a focus is placed on fostering innovation and entrepreneurship amongst youth?A. Many countries across Mena can count themselves as having some of the highest proportions of young people in the world. Yet some nations could be confronted with a demographic disaster if their social and economic infrastructure is ill-prepared to set the next generation on the pathway to success.Access to quality education, skills development, and meaningful employment opportunities are vital for socio-political stability, which itself is a key driver of national and regional progress.Particularly worrisome is the stagnation and cuts in education, along with declining enrolments in higher education, especially among lower and lower-middle economies which will only widen the development gaps and exacerbate socio-economic instability.At the same time, developed economies are not immune to this crisis. As enrolments decline in public and private universities, their budget deficits increase. Additionally, the future workforce is deprived of quality graduates who could be equipped with skills to cope with increasingly technical demands.Elsewhere in emerging economies with large populations, there just aren’t enough high-value jobs to absorb skilled graduates. This fundamental challenge has the potential to undermine the achievements of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.Despite these fears, governments are taking the initiative to incorporate innovation as a key contributor to economic growth and diversification. In parallel, large corporations are investing in both corporate and academic research and development (R&D) across most major sectors to capture market share and build strengths in leading technology trends that will shape the world of tomorrow.Advancements in digital technologies across various sectors have spotlighted Artificial Intelligence (AI) as an axis around which all manner of developments, whether social, industrial, or economic, are being based. How significant a contributor it will be to real growth and impact will remain unknown in the short term.Q2. How is Qatar building a future-ready workforce?Qatar’s roadmap for the future, the Qatar National Vision (QNV) 2030, sets an ambition to become an advanced society that is capable of sustaining its development and providing a high standard of living for its people. The aim of comprehensive yet sustainable development seeks to find a balance between economic growth, societal needs, and the conservation of natural resources. This balance is well represented by four interconnected pillars: human, social, economic, and environmental development.In relation to the workforce of tomorrow, the human development pillar is focused on the holistic development of its people, equipping and enabling them to sustain a prosperous society. Central to this is the development of an educated population emerging from a world-class education system meant to equip the youth with necessary skills through various educational programmes.Qatar aims to develop a globally competitive national talent base by strengthening early childhood education, enhancing the quality of education at schools, colleges, and universities, and increasing the proportion of graduates in STEM disciplines. It is also achieving this mission by building higher education pathways aligned with current and future market needs, and implementing large-scale upskilling programmes to enhance workforce competencies, productivity, retention, and satisfaction. The focus is on building a culture of lifelong learning, high-quality professional training opportunities, and ensuring a fair and equitable labour market.Q3. With a focus on Qatar, how are Science and Technology Parks (STPs) playing a role in advancing entrepreneurship and innovation among youth?The foundations for the continued development of Qatar as a hub for cutting-edge research, development, and innovation across energy, health, and digital technology run deep due to significant investments in education, scientific research, and associated infrastructure for over two decades. The aim has been to nurture the country’s talent base and fully unlock their potential to effectively contribute toward national growth.By leveraging these RDI facilities and capabilities, Qatar is well-positioned for a new technology-driven era. Its RDI ecosystem is geared toward enhancing the nation’s resilience and prosperity by fostering a stronger base of domestic and international RDI talent, who can address national and global challenges through RDI-based solutions.Furthering Qatar Foundation’s (QF) commitment to empowering Qatar’s community, especially its youth, to effectively contribute toward social progress, Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP) provides a dynamic ecosystem of applied research, technology development, and tech entrepreneurship, which is helping our youth entrepreneurs transform their ideas into meaningful technological solutions that address local and global needs.Spread across about 91.27 hectares, QSTP is deeply interconnected with the QF ecosystem of education, research and innovation, and community development, sharing the common goal of helping advance Qatar’s global standing in science, technology, and innovation. Being situated within Education City gives QSTP companies and start-ups access to the expertise and resources of QF’s universities and research institutions, enhancing collaboration and knowledge transfer. QF’s universities graduate highly skilled individuals who are equipped to work for the startups as well as multinational national companies located within QSTP. This creates a vibrant innovation ecosystem with a skilled workforce and establishes a strong pipeline for innovation, where promising ideas from Qatar’s academic institutions can be nurtured and realised with specialised support from QSTP.Working alongside other entities such as Qatar Development Bank, Qatar Financial Centre, Invest Qatar, and Digital Incubation Center, among other governmental organisations, QSTP is actively advancing the national agenda to secure a sustainable and innovative digital future for the country.• QSTP President Dr Jack Lau will be speaking at a breakout session titled ‘Digital transformation and education innovation’ on Sept 26, day two of the 41st IASP World Conference on Science Parks and Areas of Innovation. He will appear alongside other panellists Harriet Kinya from the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation, Kenya, and Zhidan Li of Beijing Zhongguancun International Incubator, China.The session will focus on how STPs foster innovation and entrepreneurship among youth. With insights from China, Kenya, and Qatar, it will examine the critical role of these parks in supporting young entrepreneurs through infrastructure, resources, and professional services, highlighting their impact on economic development.