Entrepreneurs and business leaders in Doha explore solutions to rejuvenate businesses and capture value

2 April 2013, Doha

The highly anticipated special edition TECHTalks workshop by QSTP, held for the first time in association with Technology Innovation & Entrepreneurship Program (TIEP) took place at Qatar National Convention Centre from 23 to 24 March, and was led by Dr. Alexander Osterwalder, co-author of bestseller, Business Model Generation, and renowned expert ininnovative business models solutions.

The workshop, themed "Creating Innovative Business Models to Rejuvenate your Business and Capture Value", was held in association with TIEP, which is a programme designed by QSTP for entrepreneurs to analyse the market viability of local technology-based ideas. As such, the event drew aspiring entrepreneurs, researchers, businessmen and businesswomen, eager for the opportunity to learn out-of-the-box approaches that move away from static business plans and focus instead on the dynamic art of designing and testing business models.

In an increasingly competitive business environment, an innovative business model is a critical success factor for companies to thrive, as it enables them to provide maximum value to its customers while growing bottom lines.Companies that are not able to systematically rejuvenate their business models will eventually struggle to survive.

Over the one-and-a-half day workshop, attendees were introduced to Osterwalder'sground-breaking tools and ideas, experiencing first-hand how to re-invent existing business models, andcreate newones for their new products and services. Osterwalderaddressed the importance of business model innovation and design thinking, and its reach beyond technology and product innovation. Attendees also had the privilege to learn, from the expert himself, the renowned methodology for visualizing and challenging business models. Known as "thebusiness model canvas", it is a graphical representation of nine core business model building blocks, and is today an approach adopted universally by many business model innovation practitioners to help create, deliver and capture value.

"QSTP is committed to training future leaders in innovation and entrepreneurship to drive Qatar's economic diversification through the development of technology-based businesses. This special TECHTalks edition, featuring Dr. Alexander Osterwalder, was designed to impart expert knowledge on how to invent, design and implement cutting edge business models that will transform innovative business ideas into reality. As such we were pleased at the turnout from Qatar's research and business communities, who would no doubt have benefited tremendously from this workshop", said Hamad Al Kuwari, Managing Director, QSTP.

The special edition TECHTalks workshop was held in conjunction with the commencement of TIEP's Business Modeling and Finance module, where budding entrepreneurs who are enrolled in the programme are trained to create viable business models for the innovation projects they are working on. TIEP's main objective is to harness entrepreneurial capabilities and vet innovation proposals to support commercialization decisions of various technologies being developed at QSTP partner institutes.

Following the one-and-a-half day TECHTalk, the TIEP program continued with its Business Model workshop in closed sessions at QSTP, with Osterwalder working intensively with the entrepreneurship students to create viable business models for the innovation projects they are working on. The hands-on methodology of TIEP continued for a further two days as finance and IP strategists coached the students in linking their business models to financials. The teams will spend the next several weeks iterating, testing and refining their business models and finally presenting to a panel of experienced entrepreneurs. The class graduates on May 2nd.

The next TIEP program starts in November 2013. Application opens soon. Email tiep@qstp.org.qa for more information, or visit the TIEP website at www.qstp.org.qa/tiep. TIEP will be holding information sessions for interested participants during the summer.

Alexander Osterwalder is an entrepreneur, speaker and business model innovator. He co-authored the global bestseller, Business Model Generation. His methodologiesare used by leading organizations around the world, including GE, P&G, Ericsson, and 3M. Alexander is a frequent keynote speaker and has held guest lectures in top universities around the world, including Stanford, Berkeley, MIT, IESE and IMD.

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About Qatar Science & Technology Park 
Qatar Science & Technology Park is the national agency charged with executing applied research and delivering commercialised technologies in four themed areas, Energy, Environment, Health Sciences and Information & Communication Technologies.  QSTP is located in Qatar Foundation's Education City and has access to the resources of its cluster of leading research universities.  In addition to QSTP's centres, members include small companies, international corporations and research institutions, which have together committed to funding new ventures, creating intellectual property, enhancing technology management skills and developing innovative new products in line with the national vision.  QSTP supports economic and human development in Qatar and has achieved recognition as an international hub for applied research, innovation and entrepreneurship.

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© Press Release 2013