QSTP partners with US-based GFCC

Dr Thomas Zacharia, executive vice president, Research and Development, Qatar Foundation (QF) and chairman of the QSTP Board, has been named to the GFCC Board.

QSTP, part of QF’s Research and Development (QF R&D), was created to help develop Qatar’s “post-carbon economy” by encouraging companies and research institutes to create intellectual property and commercialise their technology in Qatar. 

The GFCC, founded in 2010 as an international network of business leaders to promote economic growth through innovation and global collaboration, brings together organisations from more than 30 countries to work on competitiveness issues and policy through the sharing of best practices and strategies.

With 45,000sq m of office and laboratory space, QSTP is the only technology park in the Middle East co-located with Qatar National Research Institutes and six international universities.

Members within the QSTP Free Zone include subject matter experts, international corporations, and research institutions, which have collectively committed to investing in new programmes, creating intellectual property, enhancing technology management skills, and developing innovative new products. 

There are currently more than 40 companies that make QSTP their home, many of which were attracted to the potential collaboration with QF R&D’s adjacent 200,000sq m Research and Development Complex. 

As a member of the GFCC and its Board, Dr Zacharia will play an integral role in ground-breaking GFCC projects such as the development of a new type of “competitiveness scorecard” and will help guide other key global GFCC initiatives.

“At the heart of the GFCC mission is the belief that a rising economic tide lifts all boats,” said Deborah Wince-Smith, president and CEO of the US Council on Competitiveness and president of the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils.

“We welcome Dr Zacharia and Qatar Science and Technology Park to the GFCC as like-minded and indispensable partners in this effort. QSTP’s role in planning and executing strategies to enhance Qatar’s position as a leading innovation and business hub should serve as a model for GFCC members.”

Dr Zacharia noted that Qatar’s partnership with the GFCC “will be a tremendous asset in our effort to lay the foundation for sustained economic growth, not just in Qatar, but in the entire region.”

“A portion of Qatar’s economic strategy is based upon advanced research dedicated to addressing national challenges such as energy, water, cyber security and healthcare. The solutions we discover to these challenges will become the platform for a knowledge-based economy of new companies and new jobs.  We have both an opportunity and a responsibility to transform Qatar’s economy.”