The Bengis Center for Entrepreneurship & Hi-Tech Management of the Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business & Management at BGU recently invited young entrepreneurs, programmers, developers, hi-tech personnel and more to take part in Beer-Sheva’s Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW), filled with many unique events. Each event was in collaboration with leading promoters of innovation – IBM, Google, EMC, JVP, Wix, Intel, “Young Entrepreneurs” Organization, Maof, the Rothschild Cube, the Milbat NGO and more.
Prof. Dafna Schwartz, Director of the Bengis Center for Entrepreneurship & Hi-Tech Management, stated, “The Global Entrepreneurship Week events offer opportunities to be exposed to varied worlds of content, to receive applied tools, to give and receive feedback on ideas, to create fertile ground for collaborations and more. All of the activities are held in collaboration with leading partners in the business and public sectors, a tool which in and of itself is of great importance in empowering the region and strengthening the innovation-entrepreneurial culture.”
During Global Entrepreneurship Week, over 150 developers, programmers and hi-tech enthusiasts came to learn and network, having a great time doing so!
On November 20th to 21st, the Bengis Center held a 26-hour developers marathon for wearable technology along with the Google Developer’s Group, theWearSheva Hackathon. Participants met with professional mentors, heard guest lectures and competed for valuable prizes – a MacBook Pro, gadgets and more! The first place team was SlideWear, a team of students who developed a solution for class management, allowing both students and teachers to view slideshows on their wearable device and provide anonymous feedback throughout the class and afterwards. Sponsors included Google, JVP, Wix, Deloitte, VEMO, Intel and Elbit.
Above: WearSheva Hackathon
One week after the hackathon, on November 27th, another great event took place – “Introducing the Life-Changing BLUEMIX Technology,” in collaboration with IBM and “20:80” (BGU’s Forum of Industrial Management and Engineering Students). IBM representatives showcased their new platform and spent the day teaching participants to develop and deploy their very own cloud applications.
Above: Introducing the Life-Changing BLUEMIX Technology
Setting aside the more technological events, a few were organized in an effort to make an impact and inspire. One of the most influential events was the “Think Good, Do Good” Conference for life-changing technologies, on November 18th, organized by the Bengis Center and the Milbat NGO, in collaboration with the Rothschild Cube, Xnet, the National Insurance Institute of Israel and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services. More than 100 people attended to hear about the connection between the field of product development and hi-tech entrepreneurship, specifically about technology’s ability to change the lives of the disabled and elderly. In addition to lectures, technological displays and application launching, Social Welfare Minister MK Meir Cohen attended the conference. After welcoming the audience, he spoke about the importance of accessibility for the disabled and the elderly, emphasizing technology’s role in advancing this field.
The opening ceremony for the “Young Entrepreneurs” Project was also on November 18th. This marked the launch of the “Young Entrepreneurs Do Business” Organization’s activity in the Negev this year. The organization’s project encourages youths to establish a business, develop a product and market it. During this energetic event, 300 youths and teachers from dozens of schools in the Negev, were enriched by several talks and lectures about social entrepreneurship and the children were challenged to compete in creating a strategic campaign to promote book reading.
Above: Young Entrepreneurs” Project
On the prior evening, November 17th, the Bengis Center held a panel “Social Activism: A New Direction of Entrepreneurship,” discussing social activism and its connection to the world of entrepreneurship. Leading activists shared their views and provided aspiring activists with key tips to starting their journey towards making a difference.
Above:Social Activism: A New Direction of Entrepreneurship
The following week, on November 23rd, a new and important student program kicked off at the Google headquarters in Tel Aviv. Eighteen promising students of BGU gathered to begin the “Innovation in the Public Sector” program and competition, organized by the Bengis Center, BGU and Google. The day included lectures, a tour of the Google headquarters and meetings with representatives of various organizations and government officials, such as Deputy Finance Minister Mickey Levy. Over the next few months, the students will compete in making a difference for the public sector, with use of innovative technologies.
Above: Innovation in the Public Sector
Beer-Sheva and the Negev are up and coming, with the IDF supposed to be moving south and multinational corporations, investors and start-ups arriving in the South. For this reason, the Bengis Center felt the need to incorporate such a critical topic into its activity. On November 26th, a panel was held, discussing “The Negev Making Its Way onto Israel’s Innovation Map” with a crowd of 200 participants. The event was organized in collaboration with the Department of Management, EMC and JVP. Professor Dafna Schwartz moderated the panel, which included Prof. Dan Blumberg, BGU VP and Dean of R&D; Yoav Tzruya, JVP Partner and CEO of JVP Cyber Labs; Maya Hoffman Levy, head of EMC’s Center of Excellence in Beer-Sheva; and Adva Eshel Rabinowitz, Senior Branch Head at the Negev and Galilee Development Ministry. Panelist Adva Eshel Rabinovich stated, “The Negev region has extremely fertile ground…The businesses missing here offer ground for entrepreneurs to take action.”
Above: The Negev Making Its Way onto Israel’s Innovation Map
To top off the event, the “Business Management in Israel” project of the Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management was presented and the winners of the business plan competition “From an Idea to a Business: Writing a Business Plan” were announced for the Socio-Economic Track and the Innovation and Hi-Tech Track. In the Socio-Economic track, the project "Yaron" came in third place; "Preserving Eshkol's Demographic Growth" in second place; "Breaking the Glass Ceiling" in first place; and citations were given to the "Be'er Sheva's Zoology Garden" project. The Innovation and Hi-tech track winners were: "Griiip" in third place; "Torso Stepper" in second place; and "Touche Medical" in first place.
During the prior week, on November 18th, the Bengis Center and the Jewish Federation organized the closing event of the competition’s Cleantech Track. The final eight teams presented their business plans to the judging panel, after which the four winning contestants were announced. In first place was Chakratec, a company developing a system which creates energy using momentum of a unique wheel, saving and storing energy in the process. Taking second place was RUBind, creating additives for the improvement and strengthening of asphalt-pavement mixtures. Two companies received citations, Solview and Econcrete Ecological Solutions. Solview provides an automatic system for the detection of a roof’s solar capacities, whereas Econcrete Ecological Solutionsprovides technologies used to build on the sea and beach, increasing the ecological value of foundations such as breakwaters and sea walls.
The Bengis Center has also introduced a new and unique set of events– “Entrepreneurship on the Bar”. This global trend has made its way to Beer-Sheva, taking place on three separate evenings during Global Entrepreneurship Week. Evenings that drew more than 200 participants to discussions, networking, and beer at a local bar.
The first event, ‘Entrepreneurship, Let’s Not Leave it in the Drawer,’ was held on November 16th at the Bengi bar. The partners for this event included the “Young Entrepreneurs” Organization and Maof (the agency for small businesses in the Ministry of the Economy). Experts in the field assisted young and aspiring entrepreneurs in learning how to take their idea and turn it into a successful business. Also at the Bengi bar, on November 20th, Chief Architect of WIX Yoav Avrahami came to speak about the process of becoming a large global company and the challenges associated with it. In order to appeal to an international crowd, the lecture was in English and the Bengis Center, with the help of the BGU International Club of BGU's Student Union, invited students of all languages to attend. The third and final evening was “Social Entrepreneurship on the Bar”, on November 23rd at the Halutz 33 bar. It was organized by the Bengis Center, along with the Rothschild Cube, Kivunim, the Merage Foundation Israel and the Economic Company for Be’er Sheva Development. People of Be’er Sheva gathered to hear about social entrepreneurship, learning how to step out of their comfort zone and make a difference.
Above: ‘Entrepreneurship, Let’s Not Leave it in the Drawer,’
Altogether, the Global Entrepreneurship Week was a great success, providing hundreds of people with opportunities to learn and take action. The Bengis Center for Entrepreneurship & Hi-Tech Management works to provide diverse events and assist everyone interested in fields of technology, entrepreneurship and innovation.
