Israel’s second annual “Startup Weekend” was held at the new Peres Centre for Peace Jaffa earlier this month, with entrepreneurial entrants from both Israeli and Palestinian backgrounds entering their ideas for new hi-tech projects.
Startup Weekends are held in over one hundred cities around the world as a forum for people to showcase their innovative ideas. The best startup ideas are selected to receive funding and legal services.
The event has been lauded for paving the way to developing peaceful ties between Palestinians and Israelis, with startups from both groups represented, while remaining a non-political event.
Out of 55 entered project ideas, judges chose the thirteen best ideas to be developed. According to the Peres Centre’s business and Economics Department director Yoav Stern, the ideas offered are practical things that can be used around the world.
Stern also reportedly commented that the event is a perfect opportunity for Israeli and Palestinian IT minds to meet and collaborate, as they often face challenges of political borders, however in the high-tech world, these barriers do not matter.
The event’s judges and sponsors came from some of the world’s leading companies, including Google, IBM and PayPal, with the best ideas becoming the foundations for new start-up companies.
Some of the ideas submitted included an application that could help streamline security checkpoints for West Bank Palestinians, and a Bluetooth application that could help travelers locate their luggage in crowded airports.
By supporting Palestinian technological development, the event is hoped to help foster not only Israeli-Palestinian relations, but also to give a boost to the Palestinian economy, which currently relies largely on aid.
For further details, see:
http://www.israel21c.org/201007228169/social-action/where-fences-and-barriers-dont-
matter