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The vision of “Tsofen - High Technology Centers” is to advance equal opportunity and minimize the inequality faced by Arab citizens of Israel by accelerating their entrance into the hi-tech industry. In this way Tsofen will also offer a solution to the problems of talent shortage and high operating costs faced by Israeli high-tech companies. Tsofen opens R&D centers in the Galilee (starting with Nazareth) that provide software development services to Israeli companies. The success of the Tsofen project will lead to Arab citizens of Israel being integrated into the Israeli hi-tech employment pool.
Tsofen is a young not-for-profit organization. Our concrete goal is to increase the number of Israeli Arab engineers in the Israeli hi-tech sector, from the present level of 0.16% to 1% (in the Galilee) and from 300 engineers to 1300 (in Israel in general). We believe that a significant growth in the number of hi-tech employees will dramatically benefit the Israeli Arab community and with it, all of Israeli society. In addition, cooperation of Arabs and Jews in the work place can serve as a successful model for integration and contribute to bridging gaps and minimizing economic and social inequality.
The barrier to entry of Arabs into the hi-tech industry is not economic, as the demand for qualified engineers is huge and thousands of suitable Arab University graduates are available. Tsofen provides a unique solution to this market failure by locating the operation in the Galilee and by training the Arab University graduates to the hi-tech culture and requirements.
* Tsofen means “secret code” in Hebrew. The phonetics are similar to “Tzafon” (north) and “Matzpun” (conscience). There are many different ways to spell our name in English: Tzofen, Tzophen, Zofen, Tsophen, etc... but we chose the simplest and most similar option - Tsofen.
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