TED and Qatar Foundation unveil TEDinArabic—a new initiative to identify and amplify ideas in the Arabic language

TED and Qatar Foundation have launched TEDinArabic. The joint two-year initiative, featuring an ideas search, a live event and a custom digital destination, will provide a global platform for thinkers, researchers, artists and change-makers across the Arabic-speaking world to share their ideas with a global audience.

As part of its mission of Ideas Worth Spreading, TED is committed to enabling inspiring ideas to crisscross languages and borders. TEDinArabic is TED's first initiative to focus on sharing solutions, inventions and stories in the Arabic language. Qatar Foundation – a non-profit organization supporting Qatar on its journey to becoming a diversified and sustainable economy – believes in unlocking human potential. It is committed to preserving, promoting and celebrating the Arabic language, and providing platforms for people to share their knowledge, perspectives and ideas.

"We are thrilled to partner with Qatar Foundation to bring ideas from Arabic-speaking regions to the world," said Chris Anderson, Head of TED. "We at TED have always valued the power of delivering talks in one's native language, and the nuance and richness that comes with doing so—the TEDinArabic initiative is an important step in that journey. As we bring this program to life, together with Qatar Foundation, we are grateful for the support of an organization that shares our passion and dedication to education and ideas."

Her Excellency Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, Vice Chairman and CEO of Qatar Foundation, said: "Language is more than just a means of communication; it influences the way we think and how we frame our perceptions on a subconscious level. With TEDinArabic, I hope we can continue the process of amplifying ideas from our region to a global audience in a language that is synonymous with innovation and new thinking. We are proud to be partnering with TED, with whom we share the belief that everyone's mind and voice can make a difference, as together we aim to build a new culture of idea-generation that stretches across the Arab world and beyond."

A foundational part of the initiative's engagement approach is an ideas search stretching across the Middle East, during which selected ideas will be celebrated at regional events throughout 2021. The idea search will result in the selection of 16 speakers to give TED Talks at the partnership's culminating flagship event in Doha, Qatar, in 2022. This event will offer the TED conference experience in the heart of the Middle East, and showcase the boldest and most inspiring ideas to emerge from the Arabic-speaking world.

To house the initiative’s content library, TED has built a custom digital destination. Content will focus on topics that matter to the Arabic-speaking world and will include a combination of TED original and TED translated content, such as blog articles, TED-Ed video lessons and custom video content.

The impact of TEDinArabic is intended to endure long after this two-year partnership with the digital destination and its content remaining live after the culmination of this partnership.

Check out a conversation hosted as part of TED2020: Uncharted in which TED Global curator Bruno Giussani sat down with Dr. Ahmad M. Hasnah of Qatar Foundation’s Hamad Bin Khalifa University to discuss education amid the pandemic here.

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, often in the form of short talks delivered by leading thinkers and doers. Many of these talks are given at TED conferences, intimate TED Salons and thousands of independently organized TEDx events around the world. Videos of these talks are made available, free, on TED.com and other platforms. Audio versions of TED Talks are published to TED Talks Daily, available on all podcast platforms.

TED's open and free initiatives for spreading ideas include TED.com, where new TED Talk videos are posted daily; TEDx, which licenses thousands of individuals and groups to host local, self-organized TED-style events around the world; the TED Fellows program, which selects innovators from around the globe to amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities; The Audacious Project, which surfaces and funds critical ideas that have the potential to impact millions of lives; TED Translate, which crowdsources the subtitling of TED Talks so that big ideas can spread across languages and borders; and the educational initiative TED-Ed. TED also has a growing library of original podcasts, including The TED Interview with Chris Anderson, WorkLife with Adam Grant, Pindrop and TEDxSHORTS.

Follow TEDinArabic on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

About Qatar Foundation

Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF) is a non-profit organization that supports Qatar on its journey to becoming a diversified and sustainable economy. QF strives to serve the people of Qatar and beyond by providing specialized programs across its innovation-focused ecosystem of education, research and development, and community development.

QF was founded in 1995 by His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Father Amir, and Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, who shared the vision to provide Qatar with quality education. Today, QF’s world-class education system offers lifelong learning opportunities to community members as young as six months through to doctoral level, enabling graduates to thrive in a global environment and contribute to the nation’s development.

QF is also creating a multidisciplinary innovation hub in Qatar, where homegrown researchers are working to address local and global challenges. By promoting a culture of lifelong learning and fostering social engagement through programs that embody Qatari culture, QF is committed to empowering the local community and contributing to a better world for all.

For a complete list of QF’s initiatives and projects, please visit: https://www.qf.org.qa.