The Promising Rise of Israeli EdTech
The world we live in keeps moving fast and nimbly, and without a doubt not all of us manage to keep pace. The education sector also tries to keep up with the transformations and revolutions humanity is going through, though it doesn't always succeed. The term EdTech deals specifically with this great challenge: how to harness and empower education systems by incorporating technology. As human beings, we have always tried to develop tools that extend our abilities, giving us the chance to do things that would otherwise be impossible. One example: in the past it was the wheel; now it's augmented reality. This area of technology is concerned with understanding the impact technology could have, or already has, on education, and it also embraces everyone who is integrating technology into this sector.
Four or five years ago, when we thought about technology, Senor and Singer didn't flag EdTech as a sector that might also reach stardom within the so-called “Start-up Nation.” And perhaps it still isn't, but there are, without doubt, notable changes underway. In June, the fourth annual Education Summit in Israel was held, organized by “EdTech Israel,” which describes itself as “the national business hub that successfully connects Israel's education business sector with international entrepreneurs, investors and business partners.” The event brought together “1,000 industry leaders from around the world in Tel Aviv. Fifty international speakers represented 12 countries at the summit, and 120 international delegates traveled from 16 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe and North America to take part and connect with Israeli industry leaders,” according to the organization. This speaks to an ecosystem in which investors, companies, entrepreneurs, government and even the army are all looking in this direction to understand what novelties Israel has in store for the world. This speaks to change.
On the international stage, it's worth remembering that last year “CodeMonkey” — a program that teaches elementary school students their first steps in coding — was sold to a Chinese company for 20 million dollars. It was the first Israeli success story in this sector. Furthermore, at the last BETT 2019, the world's leading showcase for education technology solutions, Israel stood out through its participation across the various panels: Annoto, an Israeli tech company, was named winner in the digital services category.
It's still hard to say whether this amounts to a revolution or an evolution. For my part, I think it is a revolution within the education sector, one that is gradually generating more impact on teaching processes. At the same time, it is an evolution of the tech sector, as it comes to understand how much it has to contribute here. Israel has invaluable, internationally recognized human capital in the high-tech industry, and it could even be said to be logical that part of this human capital would turn toward social issues like education, which help improve quality of life. I believe EdTech will keep growing and making headlines — perhaps not as fast as other sectors where technology revolutionizes things so quickly — but it's a space worth watching closely.