Doha: ‘Challenge 22’ was launched last week with the vision of supporting a culture of discovery, innovation and entrepreneurship in the Middle East.
Silatech and Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) are the partners in the scheme and Dr Tarik Yousuf, CEO of Silatech, has already started seeing the way such an initiative can benefit the rise of the region in the near future.
“The reality of the region is that we are going through all these security threats and regional discords. Definitely this tension is related in some way to the social and economic marginalisation of our youth over decades, where their capacities were shunned and they were kept away from contributing to the growth of society,” Yousuf said.
“The region is laden with millions of young creators and, if they are given the opportunity and if they are supported, then the challenge for us would be to start building a new reality.
Practical solutions
“‘Challenge 22’ is not a solution, but rather it is a manner that will enable us to translate this idea into reality. We need to achieve practical solutions that will make the World Cup in 2022 an exceptional reality that will have a positive effect on the Arab world. We want this World Cup to belong to the Arab world and ‘Challenge 22’ is our first step towards that.”
Dr Abdul Sattar Al Taie, Executive Director of QNRF, felt the initiative could act as a catalyst for change in the region. “I view ‘Challenge 22’ as a brand new start for us. It is like we are planting a seed with the hope that one day it will grow into a full-blown tree. What we want to do is help people reach their potential,” he said.
“‘Challenge 22’ offers an opportunity. It is certainly not a solution, but it offers opportunities to innovators, to entrepreneurs and to people of great ideas to actually apply their knowledge and make a change. We will be listening to them all, while trying to incubate the ones that we feel are successful,” promised Hassan Al Thawadi, Secretary General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy.
