QRCE: Creating a Culture of Entrepreneurship
Founded in 2003, The Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship based at the Princess Sumaya University for Technology exists to promote tech. based entrepreneurship in Jordan, in that regards it’s the only center of its kind in the country and perhaps within the region (with the notable exception of Israel). There is a nascent culture of tech. based entrepreneurship in Jordan and it needs all the help it can get.
The Center has four established programs: 1) the Technology Commercialization Program, which hopes to patent and license IP; 2) the Queen Rania National Entrepreneurship Competition, a business case competition for budding entrepreneurs throughout Jordan (the most visible of the four); 3) Connect Jordan, a networking organization; and 4) DART (Dream, Aim, Reach and Target), an entrepreneurship society for students. The Center is sponsored by the Jordan Telecom Group, The National Fund for Enterprise Support (Nafes), and Jordan Business.
Officially:
Established in 1991, the Princess Sumaya University for Technology (PSUT) is a specialized nonprofit ICT Jordanian university. In the year 2003, PSUT embarked on a vigorous development and expansion plan. An integral part of the plan was the establishment of an Entrepreneurship Center that would be located at the heart of Jordan’s scientific, academic and R&D corridor. The idea was to name the Center after a prominent Arab dignitary known for his/her distinguished role in supporting economic growth and entrepreneurship. Thus, work towards launching the Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship (QRCE) started in October 2004.
The center aims at national development and planned to be the regions’ corner stone for technology commercialization and entrepreneurship advancement. The QRCE targets university students, researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs and others. According to PSUT’s development plan, the next step will be the establishment of a business school to be linked to the center.
Working closely with local and international organizations; the QRCE will focus on issues such as: capacity building, consulting, counseling and developing the local “Entrepreneurial Personality & Spirit”. Furthermore, the QRCE will actively work on extending the intellectual wealth of Jordan while maintaining strong links with the business community in general.
Thus far, the Center has been known for its case competition which has helped launched: Faye3.com, which calls itself “the first Arabic Social Network in the world with an Arabic taste;” and Ketab Technologies, a developer of tech. focused education solutions (their first product is an electronic white-board). Both companies were winner of the case competition.
I had a chance to sit down with Basel Kilany, Acting Director, and Mohammad Khawaja, Project Manager, at the QRCE.
QRCE Podcast:
The QRCE.mp3
