Israel’s new government has set a target of increasing the number of workers in the hi-tech sector to 15% of the total workforce. That would be about 50% more than currently work in hi-tech, and economists are divided over whether such a goal is feasible within the next five years.
Most agree, however, that with long-term planning and an education program that starts in elementary and high school, dramatic demographic changes can be created.
Among the programs leading the way in this regard is Machshava Tova, a non-profit dedicated to using technology to reduce social gaps and create a better society in Israel. The organization has several programs designed to give teens in Israel’s less-affluent communities the opportunity to learn coding and other essential technology skills.
Among these programs is Eco-tech, an annual program connecting young people to educational and employment opportunities by teaching professional-level skills in important growth sectors, as well as improving entrepreneurial and inter-personal skills crucial for future employment.
The program has three components: professional technology training, business/social entrepreneurship, and a practical internship during the summer vacation. Eco-tech ends with a national competition, judged by educators and high-tech professionals, with a special prize for winners.
Eco-tech “taught me that if I want to, I can,” said David Dessa, an 18-year old Machshava Tova graduate and winner of the competition. Dessa, currently a student in the technological reserve unit at Kinneret Technological College, will be assigned to a technology position in the Israeli Air Force when he graduates. Through the program, “I found the faith and courage to tell people to look at my actions and to not judge me by the way I look,” he said.
Machshava Tova also offers Startupists, an exclusive two-year program for students in the ninth and tenth grades to learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in an innovative and professional environment. They then use those skills to develop technological projects designed to solve social issues and establish business ventures, with guidance from leading hi-tech professionals.
The program, established by venture capital investor Michael Eisenberg, is designed for high school students in periphery towns like Lod and Sderot, providing opportunities for youth who are not necessarily given access to technology from an early age.
The program is still relatively new, but graduates of its first class include people like Avraham, an Ethiopian boy from Lod who now serves in a significant role in the technology unit working on Iron Dome in the Air Force, due to his hard work afternoons and evenings after school for two years.