{"id":14268,"date":"2015-08-28T00:15:41","date_gmt":"2015-08-28T07:15:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=14268"},"modified":"2015-09-02T12:33:34","modified_gmt":"2015-09-02T19:33:34","slug":"equalizing-access-to-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2015\/08\/28\/equalizing-access-to-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"Equalizing access to tech"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dafna Lifshitz, CEO of Appleseed Academies, is part of the FEDtalks lineup on Sept. 17. (photo from Dafna Lifshitz)<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Israel is known as the \u201cstartup nation,\u201d the incubator for much of the world\u2019s most advanced technological, medical, scientific, cultural and other innovative advancements. But Dafna Lifshitz saw a different Israel that doesn\u2019t fit that mold \u2013 and she set out to fix the problem.<\/p>\n

Lifshitz is one of four speakers at FEDtalks, a series of short, intense speeches on diverse topics that will launch the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver\u2019s annual campaign on Sept. 17 at Queen Elizabeth Theatre.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past decade, Israel has reached incredible heights with the growth of our high-tech industry,\u201d Lifshitz told the Independent<\/em> in an email interview. \u201cWe are a world leader in R&D spending, per capita [venture capital] investment and multinational R&D centres.\u201d<\/p>\n

But this activity has been concentrated in the centre of the country, remains in the hands of the privileged few and is creating \u201ca dangerous digital divide between the centre and the periphery,\u201d she said. To leverage Israel\u2019s success to even greater levels, access to relevant technological education must be made more widely available.<\/p>\n

\u201cTechnology education is a tool to make Israel stronger, more vibrant and more equitable,\u201d she explained. \u201cFirst, from an economic perspective, future economic growth in Israel is all technology-based. To participate in the workforce and gain access to the best opportunities, everyone in Israel must be able to work online, write code and build technology solutions. Second, from a quality-of-life perspective, we know that those who have access to technology and use it effectively will receive better health care, financial services, and much more. Finally, communities who use technology tools to interact with each other and their leaders are stronger and more vibrant.\u201d<\/p>\n

People in disadvantaged communities, including those in Israel\u2019s geographic periphery, suffer from lack of access to technology and opportunities in the tech sector, Lifshitz said. \u201cOur challenge is to turn Israel from the startup nation of the few to the startup nation for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

And this will be the topic of her FEDtalk \u2013 \u201cbuilding a biotech hub in northern Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

As CEO of Appleseed Academies since 2002, Lifshitz has helped a million people in Israel and the developing world access technological education programs through the nonprofit organization.<\/p>\n

In Israel, the agency works especially with women, ultra-Orthodox Jews, youth-at-risk, new olim and members of minority communities. Appleseed Academies has 350 centres across Israel. Lifshitz has been dubbed one of Israel\u2019s 100 most influential people by Haaretz<\/em> and was awarded the Prime Minister\u2019s Prize for Initiatives and Innovation in 2014.<\/p>\n

The success of the program in Israel led Appleseed to expand its work to 93 locations in eight African countries through a partnership with Cisco and the Clinton Global Initiative.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have managed to build and learn so much in Israel and, from my perspective, if we can share our model with new partners in the developing world, it\u2019s our responsibility to do so,\u201d Lifshitz said. \u201cAs importantly, we learn so much from working with cultures different from our own \u2013 when I watch how entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe or South Africa work with our models, I\u2019m filled with new inspiration for driving our mission back at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Appleseed Academies partners with the biggest, most successful tech companies in Israel, including Cisco, Intel, Microsoft, Google and Bezeq, as well as with government agencies, municipalities and philanthropists.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have learned that when disadvantaged communities prosper, our whole society prospers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Her own story undergirds the success of Appleseed Academies.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt probably started with my choice to transition from a religious to a secular lifestyle, along with my decision to study law and start a law firm with a neighborhood friend,\u201d she said. \u201cAs a result of my journey, I realized that I can lead change not just on a personal level, but on a broader scale, as well. As one of my close mentors, Cisco VP Zika Abzuk, and Spiderman like to say: with power comes responsibility. I know I can lead change, and simply cannot ignore that responsibility to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information about and tickets to FEDtalks, visit jewishvancouver.com<\/a>. An interview with Irwin Cotler<\/a> appeared in last week\u2019s<\/em> Independent and Eli Winkelman will be featured next.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dafna Lifshitz, CEO of Appleseed Academies, is part of the FEDtalks lineup on Sept. 17. (photo from Dafna Lifshitz) Israel is known as the \u201cstartup nation,\u201d the incubator for much of the world\u2019s most advanced technological, medical, scientific, cultural and other innovative advancements. But Dafna Lifshitz saw a different Israel that doesn\u2019t fit that mold […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14272,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[4416,4417,4295,4352],"class_list":["post-14268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-appleseed-academies","tag-dafna-lifshitz","tag-fedtalks","tag-jewish-federation-of-greater-vancouver"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}