The first version of TEDxCCQ conferences, which was supervised by a group of Community College of Qatar (CCQ) faculty members and students, was launched Saturday at Katara - the Cultural Village.
The conference featured 13 speakers who shared their experiences and inspirational stories with the audience.
The Organising Committee chose 'Building Bridges' as the theme of the first version of their conference. The theme is inspired by the fact that Qatar is building bridges - literally and metaphorically - where architects, engineers and urban planners are building far and wide throughout the country in preparation for Qatar National Vision 2030 and the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
On the other hand, communities and organisations are working on bridging the gaps of communication with different countries around the globe. Based on this fact, the TEDxCCQ organisers believe that the theme will be the "symbol of the connection between the past and the future, nationalism and globalisation and many other aspects that could be used to build bridges reaching the world", according to a press statement.
The 13 speakers were divided into three groups. The first group included Dr Ibrahim al-Naimi, Jacqueline bird, Sarah Inkpen, Kerry Suek and Hassan Abdel-Aziz, who presented their talks in the first session. Dr Mohamed AlJefairi, Aqeel Ahmad, Prof Marios Katsioloudes, Mufeed Ahmed, Dr Michael King and Aisha al-Kuwari presented their talks in the second session.
The conference reached its end with three inspirational speakers: Rohit Bassi, Dr Radi Abouelhassan and Ahmed al-Maadheed.
Dr al-Naimi, president of CCQ, said: “The idea of launching Community College of Qatar was very promising, but it needed commitment and resolve to bring it to reality. With its establishment, the challenge was to make CCQ an effective educational institution in the Qatari society. It started with an idea that rapidly became a reality, which required persistence and commitment to our vision.
"CCQ was launched with the purpose of creating academically and practically specialised generation in order to fulfil the rapidly evolving needs of the Qatari labour market. From its first days in 2010, CCQ has accomplished lots of achievements and today it is the fastest growing institution in Qatar offering a number of associate and bachelor degree programmes.”
Dr AlJefairi talked about assistive technology and how it can help integrate people with special needs into the society. For that purpose, Dr AlJefairi presented his experiments on inventing an interactive robotic teacher, which can recognise sign language using a camera and a specialised programme.
Mastoor al-Kaboody, the co-organiser, added: "TEDxCCQ is an opportunity for me to make a difference and help CCQ be a driving force for engaging ideas, and a platform for people who are doing remarkable things in the community. Hosting TEDxCCQ means bringing the community together to share resources and share stories, and be there for each other."
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created a programme called TEDx. "TEDx is a programme of local, self-organised events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. This event is called TEDxCCQ, where x = independently organized TED event. At a TEDxCCQ event, TEDTalks video and live speakers will combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx programme, but individual TEDx events, including ours, are self-organised," the statement explains.
