The virtual event, ‘Empowering Innovation’, is a two-day event that showcased Qatar Foundation’s excellence in RDI, recent milestones and future undertakings. It also highlighted the services offered to the industry by RDI entities in QF’s innovation ecosystem.

The event was organised by the Industry Development and Knowledge Transfer, a division of Qatar Foundation Research, Development and Innovation (QF RDI), to celebrate QF’s long-standing commitment to research, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, attended this function along with senior officials and representatives of research and academic institutions from Qatar’s research, development, and innovation community.

Dr. O’Kennedy, Vice president of QF RDI, stated that the Research, Development and Innovation landscape at Qatar Foundation enables the efficient exchange of knowledge, skills and techniques, which foster the development of the scientific community and economic growth.

He also described how it has natured Qatar’s innovation ecosystem to address national priorities and provide impactful solutions to society’s many challenges.

Day one of the event featured an awards ceremony, the unveiling of the “Wall of Innovation”; followed by an overview of QF’s initiatives in policy development by Wesley Blakeslee, IP Policy and Innovation Infrastructure expert.

According to Dr. O’Kennedy, QF RDI has placed a support mechanism to help inventors and innovators develop their ideas in marketable products. He also announced that IDKT had developed a new searchable website and complementary tools in the form of guidebooks designed to assist Qatar’s community members in working with QF RDI’s researchers, inventors, technologists, and entrepreneurs.

The guidebooks provide comprehensive information on how IDKT’s team of experts support in protecting and marketing technologies, finding partners, and licensing QF-owned intellectual property around the globe.

“With these initiatives, and numerous others empowering people to invent and innovate, I am confident that we will see more patents and better solutions to national and global challenges.”, he stated.

QF has attained many national and international patents, portraying their commitment to the development of solutions to national and global challenges and the capability to transform ideas into impactful market-ready products.

Dr. O'Kennedy unveiled the ‘Digital Wall of Innovation’, a virtual showcase of close to 80 patents awarded to QF in recent years, honouring the brilliant inventors behind them.

Day two of the celebration will see a high-powered panel discussion tackle the importance of focusing on Technology Maturation and Commercialization activities and will comprise of distinguished leaders and experts from well-recognised institutions.

The event will highlight QF’s journey up until now and feature their ecosystem’s extensive collection of academic resources and research institutions.