"The Day After" Hackathon – Students from academic institutions throughout Israel joined efforts to find solutions to challenges of the aftermath of Iron Swords War
400 students, led by the Entrepreneurship Center of Tel Aviv University, joined by Tel-Hai College, Sapir College, Bar-Ilan University, Haifa, Bezalel, Ariel and more, dealt with issues that arose during the war, and will have repercussions after, in areas of agriculture, housing and community, education, mental health, and Jewish-Arab relations on campuses.
One example is a team that focused on the evacuee student population - a sizable 10,000 students from Tel-Hai and Sapir Colleges, whose daily routines changed considerably.
The team identified three major issues: social, occupational and educational problems. They proposed establishing a 'national evacuee network community', with the understanding that a shared fate and rebuilding community connections will help them brainstorm solutions to the many shared difficulties.
The team included two students from Tel-Hai's entrepreneurship program: Nitsan Peled (Economics & Management and Psychology, a leading member of the student entrepreneurship club), and Tal Ohev Shalom (Social Sciences and Sustainability), two students from Tel Aviv University (a medical student, and a psychobiology student), and an expert in UI and UX.
Mira Hershkovitz, director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Tel-Hai College concluded the event: "We are proud of all our students who took part in the Hackathon. They did an excellent job demonstrating entrepreneurial ability, innovation, and creative thinking. We are sure that the information gathered will be very useful in similar challenging circumstances. We wish for you the kind of challenges that arise from peace, growth, and action, instead of war.