With the participation of a number of specialists and experts in various disciplines in commerce, marketing, information technology, and design, the Business Incubator Center at the University of Bahrain (UOB) established a summer program for students through MS Teams application in the fields of innovation and entrepreneurship.
The Director of the Business Incubator Center, Dr. Esra Ahmed Wali stated that “The program lasted for eight weeks and included weekly sessions and workshops, in which the participating students had the opportunity to acquire the necessary skills to build their own projects.” Noting that the goal of this program goes beyond business development, to entrepreneurship and acquiring skills that enable students to establish their own startups.
She explained that the program included students from all disciplines, who were divided into different teams according to the following majors: business administration, marketing, program development, design, science, and engineering, while team members assumed the following roles: chief executive officer, chief business officer, chief marketing officer, chief technology officer, as well as chief design officer, noting that four speakers participated in the first week of the program, during which they presented their own experiences for students’ benefit.
The director of programs at the “Brink” Business Accelerator, Marwa Al-Iskafi, spoke about the methods of choosing the idea of ??the project, some of which can be related to the entrepreneur’s hobbies or interests, or a problem that people face in their daily life and he wants to solve from many aspects. Emphasizing the importance of determining the return from the project, whether material or related to social responsibility and community service.
Also, the Co-Founder of the “Malaeb” application, Yasser Abdulaziz, shared his experience in establishing his own project, which started as a problem he wanted to solve. Pointing out that he was not able to manage the project individually, so he sought help from a number of people in different disciplines and fields, referring to the stages of the project’s development since the idea was found, to its implementation and up to the project’s continuity.
Data specialist at the “Ila” bank – Bahrain branch – Esraa Al-Shammari stressed the importance of data science in entrepreneurship in various fields and disciplines, such as banks, hospitals, and others. Indicating ways to make use of the information available in various traditional or modern media outlets on social media programs and stressing the importance of such data in ensuring the development and continuity of the project.
The CEO of “Infinite Wear”, Ameen Al-Tajer, explained the differences between data science, artificial intelligence, and machine science, and how an entrepreneur can benefit from them in his project, giving vivid examples of different projects that used these sciences and achieved success.
After the session, the students formed different teams, and each group set an idea for a project, along with its goal and possible solutions to the problems that they might encounter during its implementation.