Currently in Israel, it takes an average of 13-15 years to complete a housing project from the start of planning till keys are handed over to the homeowners. In the rest of the modern world, that process takes 2-8 years. Layers of bureaucracy are driving housing prices up, putting housing out of the reach of young couples.

The Israel Land Authority has turned to using a groundbreaking business intelligence platform to re-engineer the cumbersome process of bringing land to market. Our solution is called Ramitech-MEMAD, and it aims to boost housebuilding by integrating data from all stakeholders into a single technological solution. Our solution allows all stakeholders to see the housing supply pipeline in full, enabling them to shorten this process.

We recognized that the key problem is the sheer number of decision makers in the development value chain – from planning agencies, ministries of infrastructure and to builders – and the complexity of their relationships.

Israel’s case is additionally complicated because 93% of the land is owned by the state or the Jewish National Fund and only leased to end-users. The Israel Land Authority must find, negotiate and reimburse lessees for land previously let before this land can be put on the market for housing. It then takes responsibility for infrastructure and prepares public tenders which contractors can bid on.

Ramitech-MEMAD creates an end-to-end master view of all the processes governing all housing activities, putting all relevant actors on the same page to help them collaborate and map out an accelerated way forward. The system enables decision makers to see the big picture and with a few mouse-clicks go from a bird’s eye view all the way down to the smallest marketing units. An advanced GIS system is integrated at all level of detail, allowing decision makers to go from identifying problematic regions to zooming down and examining a specific plan in relation to surrounding infrastructure.

The system cross-cuts masses of data, pointing to areas best capable of supporting large-scale development. It points out infrastructural obstacles such as inadequate sewage systems or inadequate transportation solutions which inhibit development at several sites at once. Whereas architects and planners can make intelligent estimates, Ramitech-MEMAD gives data-driven assessments, which give ministries clear-cut answers about what they need to change to unblock development.

The Ramitech-MEMAD project is already in use at the National Housing Commission and its relevant partners. It is hosted in the cloud, in order to reach all relevant actors without exposing sensitive government networks to cyberattacks.

Last year, the system won the national IT award.

As a smart system, RAMITECH is constantly improving, and is already substantially more advanced than in its beta version. There is no doubt we’ve already seen big improvements in the efficiency of the planning process. Israel has taken a giant step forwards to bringing housing development in line with the rest of the western world–and we’re still improving.

The post How business intelligence can make housing more affordable appeared first on Digital Leaders.

The ultra-Orthodox are surprisingly well-suited to join the hi-tech economy. Technology is developing so quickly that what one knows is less important than one’s ability to acquire new skills and adapt. And that’s where the ultra-Orthodox community’s traditional weakness is actually its biggest advantage. Ultra-Orthodox boys don’t study core subjects at school–even basic maths and English. But they don’t sit idle either: they spend all day questioning the logic behind ancient texts, sharpening their critical faculties by constantly analysing and debating. So despite lacking a basic education, when ultra-Orthodox men set their minds to learning computer science, they adapt extraordinarily quickly. They have remarkable learning ability.

At Kamatech, we work to connect the hi-tech world with the ultra-Orthodox world, giving ultra-Orthodox Jews an entry point into the digital economy for the first time. We have three core strategies. First, we run training programmes for ultra-Orthodox Jews inside leading technology companies. Second, we help ultra-Orthodox Jews get work at those companies, encouraging them to drop preconceptions about this community and diversify their workforce. And third, we provide entrepreneurship training so ultra-Orthodox entrepreneurs can build companies of their own. We’ve brought the finest Israeli entrepreneurs, including Amnon Shashua of Mobileye, to teach ultra-Orthodox communities how to establish hi-tech start-ups. We have also founded an accelerator, taking promising Haredi entrepreneurs and helping them to rapidly expand their business, including by having them ‘adopted’ by a secular-led start-up to give them advice.

It’s true that many rabbis prohibit followers from owning smartphones, but I estimate 30% of ultra-Orthodox Jews own smartphones anyway. Mainstream rabbis understand that the internet is necessary for work nowaday; they are happy for their followers to earn a living with dignity, as long as it doesn’t threaten ultra-Orthodox society and its values. One rabbi, for example, told us it is forbidden to use Facebook, but one may still work there!

In five years, we have already seen incredible growth. When we started, we could only find five ultra-Orthodox-run start-ups, which struggled to raise funding; now we have a database of over 1,100 companies, which have raised tens of millions of dollars. In the next stage, we’re going to duplicate this model across the Israeli periphery, drawing in Druze, Ethiopian, and Arab society. I have no doubt that soon the digital economy will generate prosperity for them as well.

The post Israel’s ultra-Orthodox world – a reservoir of untapped talent for the country’s hi-tech economy appeared first on Digital Leaders.

Our basic philosophy is that to solve social challenges, you need a comprehensive system-wide understanding of them first. That should sound obvious. But when policymakers or entrepreneurs try to address these problems, they rarely have a truly holistic view–and that limits the effectiveness of their solutions.

That’s why at CDI Innovation–The Center for Digital Innovation we have built a series of laboratories to run interactive simulations of these social challenges and bring together all relevant actors to find original solutions. We have turned the product-development process on its head: instead of devising a solution, then testing whether it works, we first explore what the solution needs to do to work, then we devise a solution. As far as we’re aware, this is the only centre in the world to combine a multidisciplinary, multi-party physical ecosystem with a holistic approach to problem-solving.

CDI-Negev’s flagship project is about Healthy Ageing–a priority in any country with a high life expectancy. We actually built an indoors old person’s house, surrounded by four “innovation zones” for families, healthcare officials, social services, and education professionals. We brought together representatives of these groups, who all have a stake in the wellbeing of elderly people, but don’t communicate. The idea is to get a single discussion going around a simulated test-case to find the best solutions.

Imagine a widower in relative poverty, whose family is abroad–he is at risk of falling into clinical depression. So we can try out technology that identifies when he feels sad, then immediately calls the grandchildren for an impromptu phone call with grandpa. If they don’t answer the phone, the same system might alert the social services that this person needs more regular visits, or the doctor that he needs medication. If the idea works, we can trial it in old people’s homes; if it works there, we can roll it out nationally, and even internationally.

Often, totally different social challenges have a combined solution. Take online bullying. Young people need guidance; old people need company. So if we connect senior citizens to teenagers, we give the teenagers an influential mentor– and dramatically reduce the senior citizen’s risk of clinical depression. Two problems: one solution. 

CDI-Neggev is a non-profit, established in cooperation with Ben Gurion University and in partnership with government ministries and agencies. They all understand the need to harness innovation to solve urgent problems. The digital revolution has made it much easier to do things than to talk about them. We believe that in the time it takes others to brainstorm and plan, we can already jump to the implementation stage. If it works, we move on; if it doesn’t, we go back and try something else. The only way to solve big problems is to recognise that modern technology has liberated us to try things out in miniature first, then scale-up in a massive way when we have an answer.

The post Solving Real-World Social Problems in a Laboratory appeared first on Digital Leaders.

We heard from Kate Russell, hosting the discussion between speakers including Geoff York, Digital Transformation Lead from Sapient Razorfish; Alison Freer, Director at durhamlane, and Alison McKenzie-Folan, Deputy CEO at Wigan Council.

See the full recording here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL-dJIEIRPT5eXo3h4Ia6lWmCQGWpjrsid&v=OzxsLqDSHY8

Alison Freer talks culture change, legacy, digital as a utility and engaging employees:

https://youtu.be/H9dUXveM0LA

Alison McKenzie-Folan says be courageous when it comes to digital transformation:

https://youtu.be/Ci9vdnA_HVg

Geoff York talks culture, change management and putting people at the heart of transformation:

https://youtu.be/rgaDmmXZWAw

The post Watch DLTV: Importance of culture in digital transformation appeared first on Digital Leaders.

One of the biggest obstacles preventing disadvantaged citizens from realising their full rights is ignorance about their entitlements. The information is scattered all over the place, and it is difficult to make sense of it. That’s why we are creating a central, online platform that gives citizens clear information about their rights: soon, they will be able to input their information in a search engine, and get a full list of their entitlements in order of monetary priority. This platform will be integrated into the websites of Israel’s various local authorities, so that social workers can discover most efficiently how best to care for the people under their responsibility.

Since the state cannot provide around-the-clock welfare services in person to citizens, we have developed a digital ‘Distance Welfare’ scheme to maximise the benefit of existing programmes. Senior citizens can only visit community centres a few times a week. But with a special channel on the new television sets we’re launching, they can partake in activities by remote control—exercising at home while watching the instructor by video-link, for example. Similarly, we already have a scheme in which elderly citizens visit even older citizens to keep them company—now we hope to develop an app to help them keep contact digitally as well. 

Digital technology will also help us streamline services, cutting bureaucracy and waste. We’re computerising people’s personal files, so that all their relevant information can be stored in one place. Since populations that rely on welfare services often have multiple platforms, this aggregation allows social workers to access all the information they need in one place. We’re also developing a system to enable relevant authorities to share and synchronise data, to ensure it is all up-to-date. Similarly, we’re developing a digital platform for the ministry’s inspectors to file their reports digitally, making it easier to share vital information in real time with relevant agencies.

Digital literacy is very important for us. We’re teaching social workers to use the various platforms, so they can then teach citizens how to do so. We already have a programme to help the disabled, teaching them how to use special accessible computers. In the ultra-Orthodox community, where people do not have computers at home, we have a similar scheme but with local kiosks, where a representative is always on hand to explain how to use computers to access welfare services. This access to technology is liberating and empowering. In terms of giving weaker populations a sense of control over their own lives, it’s a powerful step forward.

The post Technology as a Tool for Social Equality appeared first on Digital Leaders.

Consider the immense possibilities. Matriculation exams online can be made “open book”, so students can learn how to search for relevant material and engage with fresh information instead of focusing on rote learning. With databases in Mathematics or Economics exams, students can manipulate graphs and play with data. With software in Geography exams, students can explore layers on maps and delve into trends. Once this is what students have to prepare for, teachers can finally embrace the full potential of technology for a real, ground-breaking breakthrough.

Additionally, the results of computerised exams can be mined for valuable data, which can be analysed to ascertain what works and what doesn’t, so the system can continuously learn from experience and constantly improve.

As the deputy chairwoman of the Ministry of Education’s Pedagogical Secretariat, I am responsible for the general paedagogical principles of the Israeli national curriculum. My goal is to overhaul education by embracing, rather than resisting, dramatic technological change. With incredibly powerful smartphones in their hands, our students are already technologically savvy and inundated with multisensory material—and these are trends we have to run with. In the classroom of the future, I expect every student will bring their own laptop or tablet to school, replacing all the other textbooks and materials that fill the average school bag.

There is always a risk that teachers won’t know how to exploit the new technologies to provide added value. They might rely on multimedia content to transmit the material, instead of harnessing it to enhance their students’ education. But here, too, technology provides a solution. First of all, we are using technology to transform how teachers learn, in order to change how students learn down the line. Teachers are now provided with high-quality professional development courses online—giving them not only academic content, but technological skills too.

The school of the future will break the limitations of time and space. Once teachers and students can communicate at any time and in any place, the traditional classroom will cease to be necessary. Suddenly, teachers can send students to explore the best materials, online or in the field—and monitor their progress as if they were there. Just look at how teachers are already using WhatsApp to communicate with students, sending them online materials and sustaining contact. We can already see a change.

Sometimes, people predict that digital technology will increasingly replace human beings. But in education, there is no replacement for human contact between teacher and student, especially at such a formative age. If used correctly, technology will not abolish the relationship between teacher and student—it will enhance it.

The post Digital Matriculations- Examining the Future appeared first on Digital Leaders.

In the twenty-first century, basic digital literacy— the ability to search for simple information online, to access key services, or to draw up simple Word documents—is as important a skill as basic literacy and numeracy. Increasingly, intermediate digital literacy—online banking, online purchasing, and social media—is also becoming an indispensible, essential skill.

Basic digital literacy enables citizens to navigate the modern world, liberating their limited time and resources. The internet enables citizens to pay bills without going to the post office; it permits them to order doctors’ appointments through an app, and to access government services without waiting in line. At the same time, as institutions expect their customers to be digitally literate, basic errands become ever harder to perform the old way— municipalities are installing fewer parking meters because they expect residents to pay through the Pango app; banks are closing branches as citizens perform ever more transactions online.

Israel’s nationwide digital literacy initiative aims to reach one million citizens, focusing on the sectors that have been systemically ignored by the digital revolution: Arabs, ultra-Orthodox Jews, and senior citizens. Some of these communities, such as the Bedouins, suffer a lack of basic infrastructure; others, such as Arab women, need to overcome certain cultural taboos. Ultra-Orthodox Jews, for example, are very sensitive about having “kosher internet” access, which blocks any potentially “immodest” material.

We have developed several strategies to reach out to these citizens. By collaborating with the employment services, we can deliver basic courses to people as they look for work. Inspired by a revolutionary scheme in Liverpool, England, we are training volunteers to teach members of weak socio-economic communities through local authorities. And senior citizens, of course, represent a captive audience at senior citizen centres.

The Digital Israel Bureau was first established in the Prime Minister’s Office three years ago and now in the Minister for Social Inclusion, with the goal of turning Israel digital. The government recognised that it needed a central agency to draw up its digital strategy, and to coordinate the efforts of various ministries. It also recognised the need for Israel’s vibrant start-up culture to trickle down into the functioning of government—and the Digital Leaders initiative was established to ensure that this rich expertise make bureaucracy more innovative and efficient. 

Israel’s national digital strategy is much broader than a drive for digital literacy. Digital Israel is responsible for the Israel’s government overall digital strategy, including revision of regulation, advising on how laws and directives need to change. Privacy laws, for example, were not written for the age of big data, and are hampering the opening and sharing of data banks. By working closely with the government’s legal advisor, we are crafting appropriate oversight for this fast-changing age.    

As the Israeli economy becomes increasingly sophisticated, some even argue that advanced digital literacy—namely, coding skills—is also becoming essential. Israel is only taking its first steps in training the workforce for the digital age, but the potential we stand to unlock is truly limitless. 

The post Creating a Digitally Literate Nation appeared first on Digital Leaders.

That’s why Digital Leaders Israel recently hosted ‘Digital Fiasco’—a night to celebrate failure. Inspired by the worldwide success of the ‘F*%k-Up Nights’ phenomenon—TED talks-style presentations on personal stories of failure—we brought together leading figures in Israeli society to open up to graduates of our programme about their professional failures.

Talking about failure, if legitimised, can be empowering—especially when one learns to laugh about those experiences. Take Shahar Pe’er, the most successful female Israeli tennis player in history. She was the star of the Digital Fiasco night. Pe’er discussed how she crashed in the world tennis rankings and had to rehabilitate herself by pursuing a training strategy she called ‘point by point’, focusing on winning one point at a time. Eventually, she pulled herself back up—and now laughs at the experience. Laughter is the key to confidence.

It’s always difficult to talk about failure. Psychologically, it’s tough to admit a wasted investment of time and money—and it’s even harder to risk one’s reputation by sharing that failure. In the public sector, that problem is much worse. In the private sector, venture capitalists accept the risk that some investments will fail—and entrepreneurs can move on to the next project, knowing that their financial backers do not expect a 100% success rate. But governments are less tolerant: they’re spending their citizens’ money. So if civil service digital initiatives wind up as a white elephant, senior managers cannot pick themselves up so easily and carry on—the norm is to hold them accountable.

In any digital market, entrepreneurs will fail repeatedly. The difference between a healthy and unhealthy digital culture is whether those entrepreneurs give up or pick themselves up, learn their lessons, and move on. Cultivating an understanding across society that even very high successful people fail can take the sting out of failure. It shows that moments of failure are often great turning points, paving the way for future success. Many of today’s digital giants have made disastrous mistakes—recall the flop that was Google Glass. But they learnt from those mistakes, and they emerged stronger by learning their lessons.

With over 120 graduates in senior positions across public service and civil society, the Israeli Digital Leaders alumni network has become a hub for its participants to sustain contacts and continue learning together about advances in digital innovation. This critical mass of opinion leaders in key positions will continue to engineer breakthroughs in Israel’s public sector—including promoting a healthier attitude towards trial and error nationwide.

One of the secrets of Israel’s start-up success is the willingness of its entrepreneurs to pursue wild dreams and then, when they don’t succeed, to pick themselves back up. But even that willingness is not unlimited. By pushing it further, we hope to upgrade the competitive edge of the Israeli economy and push it towards ever greater innovation and creativity.

The post Start-Up Nation, or Pick-Yourself-Up-and-Start Again Nation? appeared first on Digital Leaders.

On Tuesday 20 June we had a webinar presented by Tris Lumley, Director of Innovation & Development, Compliance Director and Andrew Weston, Policy & Development Officer from NPC, discussing ‘Helping young people face complex challenges using technology’. Find the Webinar recording here:

On Tuesday, we also heard David McGlade, the Cyber Security lead at Kainos, present a webinar ‘Are you at risk of a cyber attack?’ He took us through the threats that exist today, their impact on sectors and how you and your organisation can be best prepared to meet the rapid surge in cyber security incidents. Find Kainos’ full webinar recording here:

Are you at risk of a cyber attack? from Kainos on Vimeo.

Then on Tuesday evening, Kate Russell presented her ‘favourite episode’ of DLTV, where she interviewed experts from various sectors, including Jake Kennard, Co-founder of Kets Quantum; Shadi Razak, CTO at CyNation and Bruno Huttner, Quantum Safe Product Manager at ID Quantique. The speakers discussed the current state of quantum technologies, as well as the role of the government in accelerating its commercialisation in an effective and safe manner. Find the episode recording here:

Also on Tuesday AXSChat hosted an event on Inclusive Digital Leaders with Jacqueline de Rojas.  The AXSChat team Neil Milliken, England, Antonio Santos, Ireland and Debra Ruh, Virginia interviewed Jacqueline about Inclusive Digital Leaders and why society functions better when every citizen can participate and contribute in the technology and communications landscape. Find the interview recording here:

The final Webinar on Wednesday 21, was presented by Jane Walshe of Enforcd, joined by Mathias Wegmueller, Co-founder and Head of Business Development, Qumram, and Wendy Jephson, Co-Founder & Chief Behavioral Scientist at Sybenetix. The speakers discussed what RegTech can do, and also possible pitfalls to be avoided in its use. Find the Webinar recording here:

The post Catch up on the Online Events you missed during Digital Leaders Week appeared first on Digital Leaders.

It’s no exaggeration to say: It’s an open question whether students will even physically go to university in two or three years’ time. Around the world, governments and elite universities are introducing dramatic changes into their education systems. If Israel is to remain relevant, it has to adapt. So we are aiming for nothing less than the total reinvention of the Israeli education system. The next frontier is digital personalised learning, and it will transform universities as we know them.

Hybrid Learning
At the Tel Aviv University’s Centre for Innovative Learning, we are harnessing technology to tailor education to each individual. Until now, the traditional university format has imposed a one-size-fits-all approach on students. Digital innovation helps us to unlock the inherent potential in every student. We aim to achieve this by implementing a hybrid model of education, including both digital and personal elements. Tel Aviv University has invested enormous resources in producing Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). These are not recorded lectures, rather academic courses that were rewritten and tailor made for the digital media, comprising engaging visual material, filmed in professional studios and fine-tuned by high-end editing. Once the transfer of knowledge is made via digital media, the time spent in class can be leveraged to create more interactive sessions, which will enhance the learning experience. The state of the art will be to find the right combination between digital and ‘frontal’ teaching.

Thus, technology is finally starting to disrupt the archaic “Factory Model” of education, which is still common-place worldwide. Yet, what the technological revolution is truly facilitating is the enhancement of the personal interaction between the learners and the teacher. Our next stage will be to explore how to deliver the same material to people with different learning styles, making the digital side of hybrid learning even more personalised.

Levelling the Playfield
We also use those digital tools to expand and diversify access to Tel Aviv University. Due to our MOOCs, we are rendering high-quality academic content accessible beyond the brick and mortar walls of the ivory tower. We are encouraging High Schools across Israel to integrate our academic MOOCs into their syllabi, so that they can turn into “Online Academic High-Schools.” Students will be exposed to academic-level content delivered to them on a digital platform, equipping them both with academic and 21st century learning skills from a young age. The teacher’s role will become even more meaningful, orchestrating the class’ learning process, build the necessary bridges, and turn the classroom into an engaging in-depth learning experience.

The pilot project that was conducted in over 30 High Schools across Israel generated positive reactions. Thus, we decided to scale up by working with municipalities to create “Academic Cities.” TAU’s aim is to help levelling the playfield: provide all high schoolers in the country with the opportunity to be exposed to academic content; to develop a sense of academic capability and resilience; to receive academic credit; and to render the ambition of higher education more realistic for one and for all.

We understand that ‘building incentives’ is the name of the game, and as a matter of fact, Tel Aviv is the world’s first university to use MOOCs as part of its BA/BSc admissions process. This is a genuine revolution as it offers an alternative to the highly discriminatory practice of Standardized Tests (SATs). We believe that our MOOC-based Admissions Track will result in a more diverse student-body on Campus.

The Importance of Academic Capabilities
Our vision is to equip all children in Israel with ‘academic capabilities’ while in high school. We see this as the true game-changer. We consider ‘academic capabilities’ to be the most relevant tools for the next generation. In a world where technology is increasingly replacing even the most highly-skilled workers, employment-security and prosperity will be determined by a person’s ability for lifelong learning. Therefore we aim to equip every child in Israel with the basic academic and digital learning skills-set.

Minducate – The Science of Learning
Since the digital revolution is not just about education, rather about learning, Tel Aviv University has founded “Minducate” – the new interdisciplinary research centre for the Science of Learning. It brings together the best researchers from a wide array of academic disciplines, ranging from neuroscience, to psychology, and film studies, to name but a few. The centre’s research findings will be translated into implementable solutions for personalized learning.

Fostering the Israeli Ed-Tech Ecosystem
Tel Aviv University also aims to be the beating heart of a new Israeli Ed-Tech ecosystem. The university is the academic partner of the annual Ed-Tech Israel Summit, which brings together start-ups, venture capitalists and Impact Investors to kick start this industry. Tel Aviv University is even set to found its very own Ed-Tech VC, out of the understanding that the university could be one of those start-ups’ primary clients.

Innovation is a Need, Not a Luxury…
The key to innovation is to move forward: To stand still is to fall backwards. Tel Aviv University is the spearhead of Israel’s education revolution, propelling us forward—and excitingly, even we do not know just how far or how fast we will go.

The post Disrupting Israeli Higher Education appeared first on Digital Leaders.