Collaborative Plan to Scale Up Cyber Education Programs

With a vibrant high-tech scene that strengthens its economy, Israel prides itself on being the “Startup Nation”. Consequently, when asked in public opinion surveys, Israeli parents and students reflect this notion in practical terms. For example, they constantly rank computer science as the third most important subject in school, after English and mathematics. This response, however, comes as a surprise to the education system because computer science is not a mandatory subject in schools. It is taught only in exclusive excellence classes in middle school, as an elective major in high school, and in voluntary extracurricular after school activities.

Leaders of high-tech companies in Israel frequently point to this mismatch between the school curriculum and the job market, emphasizing coding ability as a basic skill needed in the 21^st century. They claim that digital competency is a fundamental proficiency not only for research and development positions in high-tech, but also for most careers today. International benchmarks in education, such as ‘Education 2030’ and PISA, have been shifting in this direction too, leading the way for education systems worldwide to incorporate digital literacy and computational thinking as part of their curricula.

The Israeli intelligence community was the first to respond to the emerging gap. Since the IDF is the immediate ‘client’ of school graduates, units such as 8200 started to operate educational enrichment programs in order to fill the need. Ten years ago, the unit created a not for profit organization – the Cyber Education Center (CEC) – to serve as a vehicle for the development and operation of such programs. The Center receives most of its funding from 8200, supplemented by other government agencies and philanthropy. It has been concentrating its efforts mostly on under-represented groups and the social periphery.

At this stage, the need for digital skills in Israel’s job market is further increasing. It is by now already far beyond the scope of existing programs that reach only several thousand children. Last year, the government set a goal of 15% of Israeli employees to work in the high-tech sector and for one million to employ digital skills. A government committee is exhorting the education system to expand and diversify the talent pool with special emphasis on the study of coding and networks. This objective will require planning, implementation and coordination among many stakeholders in government, the IDF, the high-tech industry and the civic sector.

The Trump Foundation may want to consider the role it can take to help realize this effort. In the November 2022 consultation, we intend to raise this topic for discussion. As part of preparing for this meeting, we are proposing to seed a collaborative planning process, together with the CEC, Unit 8200 and the Cyber Directorate at the Prime Minister’s Office. The process will seek to determine how to significantly increase the scale of the CEC’s, and other similar, programs by addressing the following questions:

1. What will it take to forge a collaboration with the Ministry of Education, in terms of curriculum, teachers and resources?
2. Could educational technology support a growth plan that maintains the quality of instruction and mentoring?
3. How can the CEC become a center of expertise on the topic and what types of tools (convening, knowledge, training, etc.) should it employ?

In order to explore these issues, we intend to hire a freelance consultant who will study the topic in depth over three months and develop some practical proposals. A steering committee in cooperation with the CEC, Unit 8200 and the Cyber Directorate, will jointly guide the planning process in anticipation of recommendations to be implemented together.

* The text presented above shows the grant as approved by the Foundation Board / Grant 499