The world is advancing at an incredible pace. As technology evolves and industries become more high-tech, the demand for skilled engineers continues to grow.
“The entire IT industry has been disrupted in the past, maybe 10 years, with new waves of innovation, disruptive technologies, from networking to the cloud," said Oren Sagi, managing director at Cisco Israel and chairperson of the Israel-America Chamber of Commerce. "They started security challenges, and now with AI. And when we refer to AI, it's not only the LLM models, but how can we build the AI factory, the infrastructure that supports AI, the application security level.”
ENGINEERING ISRAEL’S FUTURE
( ILTV)
To develop future engineers, a continuous education plan and essential skill-building are crucial.
At Afeka Academic College of Engineering in Tel Aviv, education goes beyond academics. The institution has transformed the learning process to ensure students not only gain essential knowledge but also develop the skills needed to apply it effectively.
This includes solving complex problems, working in or leading multidisciplinary teams, communicating ideas concisely, and continuing to self-learn throughout their careers.
“We discovered that everybody agreed that there is a need for the skills, but each institute has developed its own unique model to instill the skills for the graduates," said Prof. Ami Moyal, president of Afeka College. "We need to think strategically on a multi-year basis—what are the engines of growth that will make Israel secure and strong? And with this aspect, the economy, the high-tech industry, and the engineers are a major trajectory, with engineers as the only resource that we have. You know, in Israel, we don't have resources; we have only human capital. So, the investment in growing and improving the quality of engineers will flourish the economy."
Israel is currently facing a shortage of 13,000 engineers and software developers. Afeka College has stepped up to meet this demand.
While it once enrolled around 500 students per year, that number has now doubled to 1,000. Today, more than 700 graduates enter the workforce annually, supplying the country with approximately 10% of the new engineers joining the high-tech industry.
“But I think our main role is to be an example of the need to change the educational process from the aspect of quality, specifically instilling skills in the educational process, because academia needs to change," Moyal added.
Israel is currently at war, and the country has urgent needs. Many donors have stepped up to help. But as Oren Sagi explains, long-term success requires a strategic focus on Israel’s future engines of growth—and that engine is its engineers.
“Eventually, the entire secret of Israel is talent," said Sagi. "This is the main source of innovation. This is the main source of success. And talent comes from the Academy and the Academy, and the connection between the academia, the Israeli academia, and the tech sector.”
He said, "We see so much rapid change within the tech industry, in the economy. So what I ask people, when I interview young engineers, they need to have the knife between the teeth. They need to have the energy in their eyes. They need to work very strong with the team and keep on being curious and to learn all the time.”