Participants of the Corporate Innovation Leaders Program.
Doha: Qatar Research, Development and Innovation (QRDI) Council has launched its Corporate Innovation Leaders Program, another initiative that supports the QRDI 2030 strategy of enhancing the country’s innovation ecosystem.
Supporting Large Local Enterprises (LLEs) in Qatar that are seeking innovation to drive business growth, competitiveness and productivity, this exclusive program brings together leaders from these national companies to discover methods that will enable them to be champions of innovation and create effective partnerships with innovative businesses.
The first cohort of the Corporate Innovation Leaders Program comprises leaders from coorporates in critical sectors across Qatar, including Milaha, Barzan Holdings, Al Jazeera, Kahramaa and Ooredoo, who participated in a five-day workshop led by leading Silicon Valley Accelerator, Alchemist.
Eng. Omar Ali Al Ansari, Secretary-General of the QRDI Council, said: “Qatar’s Large Local Enterprises represent a critical backbone of Qatar’s economy and infrastructure. By leveraging the Coorporate Innovation Leaders Program and also our Open Innovation Platform, LLEs can drive forward their business goals using innovation whilst also creating opportunities for partnerships with top companies and top talent to pilot and co-develop cutting edge technologies in Qatar. This is yet another effort to speed up development of an innovation culture in Qatar and move Qatar into the top ranks of innovative countries in the world.”
The program has been designed by QRDI Council in partnership with Alchemist Accelerator. A top-ranked Silicon Valley startup accelerator, Alchemist is widely recognized as a thought leader, effective in connecting enterprises with early-stage tech startup companies. Participants of the Council’s Corporate Innovation Leaders Program will enjoy a host of benefits, including access to Alchemist’s invite-only network of global corporate innovators, startup founders, and venture capitalists.
LLEs participating in this program can then also join QRDI Council’s recently launched Qatar Open Innovation (QOI) program as Opportunity Owners.
Offering access to a wide pool of innovators, QOI facilitates partnerships between Opportunity Owners and solution providers (who could be MNCs, SMEs or startups) to co-develop solutions following best practices in open innovation worldwide.
