TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK

DOHA QATAR Foundation’s Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP) will bid to host the 2014 International Association of Science Parks (IASP) World Conference in Doha. Should QSTP win the bid, the IASP conference will be held in the Middle East for the first time.

The IASP is a global network of science and technology parks (STPs) that connects professionals from across the globe and provides a number of services to its members.

The 29th annual World Conference of IASP is taking place currently in Tallinn, Estonia, and will conclude on June 20, a QSTP release said on Sunday.

The final phase of the bid process will be held in Tallinn on the June 19, when three organisations that made it to the last round of the strict selection process will have the final opportunity to pitch their case to the members of IASP with voting rights. Pointing out that as a young organisation, QSTP has accomplished so much, Executive Chairman and Science and Technology Advisor to QSTP Dr Tidu Maini said, that was why “we are so enthusiastic about the opportunity to invite our colleagues from around the globe to Qatar to share our experiences and show them what can be achieved in a relatively short period of time with a lot of ambition, commitment and effort, within a favourable and stimulating environment”.

Qatar’s QSTP will be competing with the Pomeranian Science & Technology Park in Gdynia, Poland and JSC Technopark Sistema-Sarov in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.

The winner of the bid will be announced shortly after the final presentations.

This year’s World Conference, titled “Science and Technology Parks: Serving the Companies and the Innovation Community” brings together more than 450 delegates from 50 countries.

Experts from STPs, academia, public sector and business are taking part in discussions on the trends in STPs, their management and development. QSTP has become an international hub for technology development and applied research, and the IASP conference would be a great opportunity to share the successes and challenges with the fellow science parks.