Several national and international technology incubation experts will address the third Saudi International Technology Incubation Conference, which is set to begin on Sunday at King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST). The speakers at the three-day conference, held under the patronage of King Abdullah, will try to induce a national environment encouraging participants to engage in creative thinking and innovative technology. Saudi Arabia, through KACST, is giving high priority to the development of technology and innovation in all fields related to incubation. KACST is in the forefront of this effort through the National Science and Technology Plan, which provides substantial funding with the support of 62 other government agencies. The BADIR program, created by KACST in 2008, is promoting technology innovation, entrepreneurship and incubation. The third Saudi International Technology Incubation Conference organized jointly by KACST and the BADIR Program will bring together international and national experts from the Kingdom's public and private sector. Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Hargan, CEO of the BADIR Program for Technology Incubators at KACST, said in a statement to Saudi Gazette that the three-day conference will examine a number of basic issues that focus on building a knowledge-based economy in the Kingdom such as “technology entrepreneurship”. Dr. Al-Hargan said some of the eminent speakers and technology experts including Esko Aho, former Prime Minister of Finland and Executive Vice-President of Nokia, and Dr. Joachim Von Heimburg, General Manager of Innovation and Corporate Programs at Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), will present papers at the conference. Other prominent speakers such as Saeed Amidi, CEO of Plug and Play USA, will talk about the creation of national technology that is environmentally friendly, while Dr. Greg Horowitt, Co-Founder and Director of the Global Connect Program at the University of California, will share his experience in terms of building a talent center. Two experts in the field of incubation will focus their talks on best practices for incubation development. “The workshops in the conference will concentrate on the objective of preparing the nation for innovation,” Dr. Al-Hargan said. He called upon all those interested in technology and incubation in the Kingdom to attend and benefit from the valuable lectures and workshops, organized as part of the conference. __
