This is what Assaf Rappaport, CEO of Microsoft Israel Research and Development, said at the final event of SilicoNegevBGU. Green eye technology won the start-up competition at the same event
The CEO of Microsoft Israel Research and Development said these things in a conversation on stage with Prof. Rivka Karmi, president of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, at the major entrepreneurship event in the south held by the university, the MTA association and the Tech 7 entrepreneurship community, in collaboration with the municipality of Beer Sheva
Assaf Rappaport, CEO of Microsoft Israel Research and Development, addressed the issue of integrating women in the high-tech industry in a conversation with Prof. Rivka Karmi, president of Ben Gurion University of the Negev: "It is a very painful issue, both at Microsoft and in the high-tech industry. We are not an industry that embraces women and should know that. Even the numbers show, in universities 35 percent women graduate and in the high-tech worlds we have only 20 percent. This means that we have a very contributing part to the blame."
Rappaport went on to expand on the topic: "Incorporating women and diversifying work teams in general is not a social need or philanthropy, it is a business necessity so that we as Microsoft and we as the Israeli hi-tech industry will succeed. It's a matter of innovation and development possibilities. I will say that I didn't start out that way. When I founded the startup we were almost all men, we were all 8200 graduates who looked the same and I was burnt out. There was an excellent and amazing team but it was not diverse. We will lose our status as a high-tech power if we do not work to integrate more women into the industry." "Hi-tech needs a diverse population - women, ultra-Orthodox and Arabs - not only for a social need but also as a business necessity. Women are a critical part of this variety and the fact that their rate in high-tech only reaches 20% is a big failure that the industry needs to solve," he added.
"It is true that there is a bias for women to avoid studying technological education, but even in the current situation it is possible to recruit more women. We will not continue to lead Israeli hi-tech if we do not integrate women. There is a huge shortage of workers in the industry and if the situation continues, we may lose our status in the high-tech world," said Rapaport.
About the visit to the university high-tech park in Be'er Sheva, Rappaport said: "The first thing I saw was the power. You walk around the high-tech park and see the logos. So many companies, not only the big ones, not only the global R&D centers that are here but also the small start-ups that it is amazing that there is a place for them too and of course the whole connection. That was the first 'wow' I got."
Rappaport added: "Understanding that this place is going to work as an ecosystem may sound trivial, but cracking it and making it work is much more difficult, there is rivalry between every possible body. Whether it's the government, start-ups, large companies, academia, the army that moves here, but you managed to build this bridge between them all. For example, seeing the CEO of Microsoft visit EMC where representatives of start-ups are sitting there and showing everyone an IBM video. I said 'this doesn't happen anywhere in the world'. I think that this bridge in Be'er Sheva that we were able to build is crazy and unique."
Ben Gurion University will establish a fund for investments in student start-ups - this was revealed by Prof. Rivka Karmi, the president of the university. The fund will invest one million dollars over three years, and Ben Gurion notes that it is the first of its kind established by a university in Israel. According to Prof. Carmi, "the foundation will award grants to students with the aim of accelerating innovative technologies and ideas as a result of their thinking and creation".
As part of the project, students will be able to enroll in a course that will acquire tools and skills in identifying promising ideas and technologies and investing in them. Those of them who complete the course will be able to join the fund's investment committee, alongside industry and university personnel. In addition, the students who graduated from the course will serve as scouts and hunters of innovative technologies on campus. Also, student-entrepreneurs and university graduates can submit funding applications to the fund. She stated that the university has no profit motive in this initiative and that it will include three channels: advanced projects, Pre-Seed and social entrepreneurship.
At the SilicoNegevBGU event - the largest entrepreneurship event in the south of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, the MTA association and the Tech7 entrepreneurial community, in cooperation with the municipality of Beer Sheva, the final stage of the SilicoNegevBGU startup competition will be held, to which 70 technological startups from all over the country that are related to the Negev have registered and working to strengthen it at the national and international level.
Green eye technology won the start-up competition
. The company that develops a solution based on machine learning and artificial intelligence to reduce the use of pesticides and increase the yield, won first place in the finals of the start-up competition at the major entrepreneurship event in the south held by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, the MTA association and the Tech 7 entrepreneurial community, in collaboration with the municipality of Beer Sheva.
The company won an investment of half a million NIS on behalf of the MTA association.
The company Green eye technology, which uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to create a revolution in the way we currently exterminate pests in agriculture and provides a precise solution for the use of herbicides, won first place in the finals of the competition of start-ups working for the Negev held as part of SilicoNegevBGU - the largest entrepreneurship event in the south of the University of Ben- Gurion in the Negev, MTA association and the Tech7 entrepreneurship community, in cooperation with the Municipality of Beer Sheva. The first prize received by the company is an investment of half a million NIS on behalf of the MTA association.
The other two companies that competed in the final stage are Stress Factor, which is developing a first-of-its-kind blood test that will enable chronic stress to be revealed and quantify its impact on health, and Sindesy, which is developing technology that makes standard water heating systems connected to the network and controlled.
Also participating were Rubik Danilovich, Mayor of Beer Sheva; Gideon Shavit, chairman of MTA; Aharon Aharon, CEO of the Innovation Authority; Ran Kraus, CEO and co-founder of Aerobotics; Wendy Singer, director of Start-Up nation Central and more.
4 תגובות
Of course I know, but in any case, the Lithuanians - Ashkenazim or Sephardi are very strict in their interpretation of religion, the opposite of what the Vilna genius instilled in them - he educated them to go out to work. It is precisely in the land of Hasidim that they work and they oppose work and in fact any contact with seculars.
In the example you gave, you saw that it is not the religious aspect that is problematic, but the part of the Haredi demands for aggravation and that everyone will meet their conditions. There is no reason why ultra-Orthodox men and ultra-Orthodox women should not study high-tech subjects (and before that, math and English at school). The ultra-orthodox themselves are paying for the victory of their politicians, who want to keep them in the dark. They can believe and program.
Avi,
It's a shame that this is your way of relating to the anecdote I brought. It seems to me that the matter requires a more serious approach than just joking or worse.
I say this precisely because I am convinced that you know what "Lithuanian-type Spaniard" means in the accepted journalistic (and sociological) jargon - the reference is always to someone who is not Ashkenazi but was educated in Lithuanian-type yeshiva.
It is good that both Spain and Lithuania are in the European Union and the Eurozone,
"Hi-tech needs a diverse population - women, ultra-Orthodox and Arabs..." - an excellent statement by a professional in the field.
The problem is that lamenting the absence of women is completely photogenic and popular, beyond the fact that it is completely justified, of course; But coming out in favor of the integration of ultra-Orthodox and Arabs - that's already a message that deserves modesty. Public discourse on this matter is minimal, compared to the magnitude of the problem.
To demonstrate, I will tell a story that I know personally: an ultra-Orthodox of the Lithuanian Sephardic type, who was already a bachelor and married +3 began studying software engineering and managed to graduate with honors. But his first attempts to be accepted for a prestigious position failed and in fact were rejected outright, while his classmates, even those whose academic achievements fell short of his - were accepted and integrated well into the work. With my advice, the man learned to disguise his identity as an ultra-Orthodox, in such a way that he would be perceived and seen as just a religious person. And here is the wonder and wonder - he soon won a coveted position...
This man is just an example of a prominent phenomenon of Haredim being rejected in high-tech, in particular by industrial organizations of a security nature.
Bottom line - the man stopped disguising his ultra-orthodox status quite quickly after his integration into the system. Today, three years later, he has a very high position in the system and the satisfaction with him is great. He is even popular and does not 'frighten' anyone in the organization...
Food for thought - and a strong motive for correction.