Siraj Technologies is creating the next generation of Bedouin role models

As CTech touched down in Gav Yam Negev High Tech Park, it spoke with entrepreneurs and academics who are helping Beer Sheva become a hub for companies and the local population to access Israel’s booming startup sector. Among them was Othman Alshekh, CEO of Siraj Technologies, who ensures that Israel’s Bedouin community has access and opportunity to rise the ranks.

“We are running a lot of programs that aim to raise awareness for the high tech,” explained Alshekh, who himself comes from the Bedouin community. “We run a program of mentoring, helping the students to overcome the first years in college. Also, we are running a meetup program in which we host every month one of the leading people in the high tech industry to tell the Bedouin community about high tech.”

Israel’s Bedouin community is made up of roughly 200,000 people, and yet few of them have easy access to one of the country’s most successful sectors. Siraj Technologies, which works with industrial IoT and helps companies connect edge devices to the cloud, ensures those from Israel’s periphery regions can climb the startup ladder.

“We think that there's a lot of potential here, and a lot of engineers that can bring value to the tech industry. But this potential is untapped and through our company, we are hiring Bedouin engineers and we are creating more role models so we can bring this society to high-tech and integrate it into the startup nation.”

You can watch the entire exchange in the video above.