For six days, the students met representatives from start-ups and international leaders in innovation (Microsoft, Intel, WeWork, Wix, Check Point...). They also took part in round tables, a Hackathon, and many discussions on best practices for innovation and entrepreneurship.
Israel has a unique ecosystem to encourage the emergence and expansion of technologies. A country that has seen its share of war, Israel is in a permanent state of uncertainty and is organised to be at the forefront of innovation. In fact, cyber security, self-driving cars and Fintechs are areas in which many Israeli start-ups flourish.
The many incubators encourage collaborative development and the government facilitates company creation though financial support and tax breaks. During recent years, innovation hubs have been established such as the formerly deserted city of Beer Sheba (one hour south of Tel Aviv) or the Silicon Wadi triangle.
SKEMA’s representatives and 300 other international profiles took part in the hackathon organised by Ben Gourion University. This contest, a contraction of the words “hacking” and “marathon”, was about creating a technological tool to improve the lives of students and their experience of apprenticeship. In 28, the students along with Israeli developers analysed, created and pitched innovative ideas. SKEMA managed to get two teams into the final and finally, Lorraine Miton and Clémence Martin with their team of Israeli engineers, won the contest and obtained a financial kick- start to launch their project.
The students from the Global Young Leader programme are organising a conference at SKEMA soon to give feedback on their experience and prepare the 2018 edition.
For more information on this trip and the Global Young Leader programme, visit their
website and their
Facebook page.