The Digital Center of Excellence and elev8 have been recognized as playing a crucial role within the Qatari entrepreneurial ecosystem by HEC Paris in Qatar. Dr. Allan Villegas-Mateos, a senior research fellow at this renowned institution, published his report “Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: Path for Innovation” where he explores the building blocks of creating a sustainable ecosystem and how innovation sparks non-traditional business practices.
Seeing our efforts acknowledged as we provide upskilling and reskilling learning solutions and initiatives to support the government and businesses in Qatar as they move towards a digitally transformed economy is a great honor.
Entrepreneurship is fundamental to local, regional, national, and global economic innovation in the modern world, and a healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem forms the lifeblood of its success.
Creating a robust framework requires the alignment of individuals (entrepreneurs), organizations (businesses, VC’s, investment firms, banks, universities), and processes (these could be social, cultural, or political) under the common goal of stimulating sustainable economic growth.
The entrepreneurial lifecycle in Qatar is marked by three developmental milestones: idea, launch, and growth, which can be broken down into further three subcategories each. It’s within these sub-categories that Dr. Villegas-Mateos identifies where key stakeholders fall in the Qatari ecosystem and how they work to boost innovation practices within the local economy. (See pages 32-37 in the e-book)
The first of the major milestones, the idea stage, is supported by three pillars: inspiration, education, and validation. The idea stage is where budding entrepreneurs find inspiration, learn skills, and build a product and/or team. The Digital Center of Excellence and elev8’s role is so crucial because they enrich entrepreneurs with the digital and soft skills, they need to see them through this stage and beyond.
In addition, the chapter of the report, “Toward a More Inclusive Entrepreneurial Ecosystem for Women in Qatar: A Sociocultural Perspective”, is devoted to the growing presence of women in a traditionally male-dominated sector and geographical region, and how this trend can be further encouraged. At elev8 we are exceptionally proud to have a female president, Maria Balbas, spearheading the incredible work we do, drawing on her extensive international experience and in-depth knowledge of digital skilling learning solutions. Under her leadership we are bridging the digital skills gap, from working with local governments and entities, to global tech giants.
If you’d like to find out more about what we do, contact us.
And if you’d like to read Dr Villegas-Mateos’ report for yourself, click here.
