Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Tuesday 4 Shevat, met with outstanding students from Israeli high school cyber programs.

During his visit, the Prime Minister told students, “We have a national interest in the cyber sphere. It is a field that is creating opportunities on one hand and problems on the other. As a state, we have a national interest in being a leader; this may be seen in the thousands of visitors who came to the [CyberTech] event from around the world. We are doing everything in our power and you students need to strengthen us with your curiosity.

“This will have implications for you, the country and our economy. Your years in the security services will be golden years for the security of the nation and of us all. I encourage you to develop along two tracks of service and giving to the country and, later on, independent economic development. You are contributing to the country and it is your right to do so. This right creates commitment – give us several years for the country.”

Also participating in the meeting were Israel National Cyber Bureau (INCB) head Dr. Eviatar Matania, National Security Council head and National Security Adviser Jacob Nagel, Prime Minister’s Office Director-General Eli Groner, National Economic Council Chairman Prof. Avi Simhon and other senior officials.

Announced at the meeting was the establishment of a first-of-its-kind national center for cyber education together with the security and academic establishments at a cost of NIS 24 million over the next five years. The financing of the center will be shared among the INCB (a unit of the Prime Minister’s Office), the Rashi Foundation and additional sources.

The national center is the product of work by the INCB and the Rashi Foundation. It will include a new agency, the National Center for Cyber Education and Teaching, which will develop new cyber teaching programs for young people and designated populations as well as training teaching personnel.

The goal of the center is to strengthen existing teaching methods and to develop training programs in order to increase the number of quality groups of cyber experts for future integration into the Israeli security establishment, industry and academia. The decision to establish the center comes against the background of a growing need to maintain the level of excellence among existing cyber educational and training programs and to increase the quantity and quality of teaching personnel in the field.

The new center will offer its services to existing and future cyber programs. Its activities will be focused in four main fields: Developing national teaching programs and new educational formats, with emphasis on virtual training in an advanced computerized environment for children, young people and academics in the cyber sphere; training teaching staff in the cyber sphere, including active professional support for existing teams and developing advancement tracks for them in cyber training as well as promoting their integration in industry; building a professional and knowledge base in the fields of cyber teaching and pedagogics alongside advancing research on ways to develop human capital in the Israeli technological and cyber spheres; and developing and applying a classification process for the various programs. Assessment methods will be developed for the various programs in order to promote effectiveness, efficacy, quality and constant improvement.

Rashi Foundation Director for Cyber Education Saguy Bar will manage the center. A joint INCB-Rashi Foundation steering committee, with the participation of other partners, including the Education and Defense ministries, will oversee the establishment process, set an annual budget and monitor the development of the center.

The center will also integrate leading science and technology education researchers in assessing and developing its cyber teaching programs and methods. Consideration will also be given to creating program development partnerships with a research university that will be selected on the basis of its academic quality in the field of computer sciences and cyber as well as its experience in scientific-technological instruction for children, young people and professionals.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem / Photo Credit: Amos Ben-Gershom, GPO)