What could Qatar do to develop its digital health / HealthTech sector?

As we conclude our visit to the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), we decided to drop some ideas on what Qatar, and especially Doha, could do to develop its digital health / HealthTech sector. And many parts of this could also apply to other countries and cities across the region.

First, let us establish that digital health / HealthTech is among the top 3 sectors for VC investments in Europe and North America — with US-based digital health companies alone raising $10.7 billion in 2023 according to Rock Health.

Europe is (naturally?) behind this figure, and the MENA region is far behind. That's just the way things go in tech.

In this article, we'll explore a few ideas of what Doha and Qatar could do to advance in this market.

Challenges

First, let's go through some of the challenges Qatar is facing:

Regional contenders
Here, we have Dubai as the best-established city in the region for startups, followed by another UAE city (Abu Dhabi) and Doha. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is making waves, enticing global companies to move their regional headquarters to the Kingdom. And that strategy is working with major enterprises eyeing lucrative government contracts.

STEM talent shortage
Another challenge is the lack of STEM talent. This is by no means a local challenge, but it may be more prevalent in the GCC than in Europe and North America. Simply put, not everyone wants to relocate to the region. Low (if any) taxes and nice weather in December are cool, but it is not enough. And never will be. If you're a top-notch programmer, you are already making enough money in your home country and, if you do plan to relocate - chances are you are looking for interesting projects in Silicon Valley.

Small market
Lastly, Qatar is a small market where a few digital health companies can make a fortune. Then again, it could be used as a testbed for digital health solutions and as a launchpad for expansion to the broader MENA region.

Now, let's see what Doha and Qatar could do to improve their digital health sector...

1. Invest in education

As noted above, there is a shortage of STEM talent, but that is only one piece of the puzzle. Here are a few things that could be done:

Partnerships - one idea is to partner with tech giants to educate the public on technologies like AI, cloud, HealthTech, and so on. There are a few such initiatives in the UAE and KSA and Qatar may do something similar.

Educate the local population about project management - if you don't have enough STEM talent locally, you can educate your population about managing dislocated teams. This way, they may be able to (more) successfully outsource the development (programming) jobs to other countries.

In addition, Qatar can do more to attract talent from its less-rich neighbors like Jordan and Egypt — which (relatively) easily fit into the local ecosystem. Another source of talent could be Ukrainians and Russians escaping from war. The UAE managed to attract quite a few of these folks, can Qatar do something similar?

2. Support existing players

There is a limited number of digital health startups in Qatar — we have identified only 9 (nine) of them.

Someone should evaluate and contact these companies to see how they can help them. Whether it's money, advice, or a combination of the two. Moreover, Qatar's companies and/or hospitals could be the buyers of these companies' products and services.

The Itqan Clinical Simulation and Innovation Center aims to offer support for startups, helping them better define and test their solutions in real-life hospital settings. During the WISH conference, we had a chance to hear about their plans to connect all the dots to support the local digital health / HealthTech ecosystem.

Another Qatari institution looking to support innovation in this space is QRDI Council, which too wants to work with startups and guide them toward successful launches of their products.

Alas, I wasn't convinced about how that would work. From where we stand, the main KPIs for all these efforts should be: a) the number of companies launched, and b) the number of these companies still working after 3-5 years. I didn't hear anything on those (or any other) KPIs, and the time for questions expired - so I didn't have a chance to ask about it.

3. Form JV with foreign companies

Like other Gulf countries, Qatar is already working with tech giants across different areas. In the healthcare setting, they may launch an initiative to support the growth of its (digital health) startup scene and talent development.

As mentioned above, the likes of Microsoft and Google could help educate the local population on technologies like AI, cloud, blockchain, and so on.

Another idea is to identify solutions from smaller companies that could be implemented in Qatar's healthcare system and then expanded to the MENA region. These smaller companies could also be encouraged (and financially supported) to establish regional headquarters in Qatar — as all the major players will most likely be moving their HQs to Saudi Arabia.

A new joint venture could be formed with a Qatari entity owning a piece of the MENA-focused business.

4. Copy successful solutions

Local players could be enticed to copy successful (software) solutions from other countries. Or even form a new company for that purpose.

In most cases, there is little IP that can be protected. It's like a local version of Uber or a food delivery business. We've seen quite a few of those.

The healthcare market is highly regulated, and global players are careful (and slow) with their expansions. This presents an opportunity for startups in Qatar and elsewhere.

5. Become a testbed for digital health solutions

This is where organizations like Itqan Clinical Simulation and Innovation Center can play an important role, offering global companies access to their resources to test their solutions in a real clinical setting.

From here, such initiatives could be further expanded by creating so-called cross-department delivery units that would work with hospitals, ministries, and other entities in order to try out novel solutions. With institutions like Itqan, Qatar has a chance to become a regional center/hub for testing digital health / HealthTech products and services.

On a similar note, earlier this year, we saw a major VC firm, General Catalyst, acquiring a health system (Summa Health) to (among other things) allow its portfolio companies to test their digital health solutions while improving the quality of care.

6. Create a Digital Health Hub

Imagine a Doha Digital Health Hub, which would educate aspiring entrepreneurs and startups and help them in other ways — while offering perks like co-working space, discounts on software and services, access to funding and labs, hospitals, networking opportunities, and more.

Many cities in Europe already have similar digital health hubs, which also offer an "offline component." These include Barcelona, Vienna, Paris, London, and Geneva, to name a few. So why not make one in Doha?

Such a Digital Health Hub could also lead and/or participate in other initiatives mentioned on this page.

BONUS: Sponsor DHArab

We had to include this here. 🙂

As a sponsor of DHArab, we could help Doha promote its offering for digital health / HealthTech startups across our website and in our newsletter. Further, we will extend our promotion to social media, with an emphasis on LinkedIn.

Plus, when and where needed, we'll work with you on any marketing & PR activities.

This is the easiest part to accomplish.

Easier said than done

Everything on this page is easier said than done, and serious effort and money will be required to push this (or some parts of it) through. But it's worth it as it could help position Qatar as a leader in Digital Health in the region. And any such effort is worth it — not just for the benefit of patients, but because it makes perfect business sense.

And, as the saying goes, the sooner you start - the sooner you'll get there.

It was nice visiting Doha for the WISH conference.