On March 5-7, Julia had the honour of the attending the second edition of Qatar`s only ICT-industry focused Conference & Exhibition at the Qatar National Convention Center. The event – QitCom 2012 – featured more than 200 local and international companies, innovative technology solutions from around the Arab world and visionary keynote addresses by eminent speakers such as the world-renowned physicist Professor Michio Kaku. Following her promotion of open data and open innovation during last year’s inaugural conference, Julia used her panel discussion to urge Qatar and other Gulf states to make their cities and states ‘smarter’ by tapping into the unleashed potential of their strongest asset – their young people. She highlighted the way in which pioneering ‘Smart City’ projects such as Citadel on the Move and EPIC are using the open innovation methodology underpinning Living Labs to drive bottom up entrepreneurship and change in Europe, and encouraged Qatar’s leading R&D innovation center – QUWIC – to give Europe a run for its money by becoming the first Living Lab in the Gulf!