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TEDx Arabia: Talk About Innovation!
More than 800 young Saudis — including creators, writers, bloggers and all-around leaders — had the opportunity to share their aspirations and insights at the first TEDx Arabia.
“When we see ourselves in the mirror and understand our abilities then we can talk about innovation,” said Thamer Shaker, whose work appears in several Saudi newspapers and in three books: “Excuse Me, Forgotten Intentionally,” “The Next Year Event,” and “Dwarf, Giant and Home.”
“The current Arab reality is demoralizing Arab youths socially and politically,” he added. “There is a big gap between us and other nations in different fields. The question that I want to rise is why are we so frustrated?”
Addressing these issues was one of the main goals of TEDx Arabia, which took place Dec. 2 at Ismail Abu Dawood Hall at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI). Young Saudis like Shaker shared their ideas and exchanged experiences. The eight-hour event featured 20 young speakers — only two of them women — adding to the dialogue their proposals aimed at inspiring young Saudis.
Shaker, one of the speakers, said that the primary tools of innovation are knowledge and freedom.
“This doesn’t mean immorality,” he said. “We should believe that tomorrow will be better and we should not be satisfied with our current achievements, but rather search for more.”
Yasser Al-Bakr, founder “The Bubble Over My Head” Arab-language blog site (http:// yaserbakr.com), said confidence and self-assurance are important characteristics to have in order to succeed.
“Innovators are always facing difficulties in achieving their goals. What they should do is keep on trying,” he said. “In the business world everything is expected. Companies rise and fall in the world of market competition. People should believe that everything could change. When a person believes that he can create his own innovation, then he can achieve his goal.”
Walid Fitaihi, founder and CEO of the Jeddah-based International Medical Center (IMC), discussed how to attain success in innovation.
“There are many questions that people should answer first to reach innovation,” he said. “These questions are: How do you see the way? What matters most to you? How do you see the connection? Can you see the forest and the tree? How do you see others? Realize the potential. How do you see yourself? And do you do things right?”
“People should move from one stage to another in their life,” he added. “New innovations are always criticized and made fun of. I noticed that most people make fun of innovations. But later they start believing in them.”
Fatima Ba’azeem, a Saudi artist who has organized several workshops to discover young Saudi talents, spoke about her experience in the field of painting.
“I faced many difficulties to prove my talent and turn it into a profession,” she said. “The difficulties that I faced encouraged me to establish art workshops at shopping malls.”
Ba’azeem said her workshops for children are free and without any financial support or sponsors.
“TEDx is an amazing occasion where people can sit and watch more than one speaker from their own town, whom they never heard about, get to know them and maybe be inspired,” said Mohammed Al-Bakri, co-founder of Young Initiative Group — a Jeddah-based welfare organization of young volunteers — and one of the event’s volunteer coordinators.
Lamia Al-Saleh, a 34-year-old schoolteacher, said she would have preferred to see more than two women speakers at the event.
“I was really disappointed that TEDx called for a large number of Saudi males and only a few women,” she said. “Many Saudi women are powerful speakers and they can actually add to the knowledge of the young Saudi audience.”
Rima Al-Mukhtar, Diana Al-Jassem
Arab News