Beersheba has been bestowed the honorary title: “The Cyber Capital of Israel,” but has it truly fulfilled its enormous potential? In an age in which artificial intelligence is changing the rules of the game and redesigning the landscape, we are faced with historic digital threats.
This requires us to not only strengthen our national and economic security, but also to build a real future for the Negev’s young adults and stop the worrisome phenomenon of negative emigration to the central region.
The wonderful world of AI and cyber is full of opportunities. When we talk about information security in the age of AI, we’re talking about the main course of Israel’s national and economic security. However, here there’s also something deeper: an opportunity to close geographic and social gaps that have accompanied us for many years.
The data speaks for itself; each year, tens of talented young adults from the Negev leave for the central region, seeking career opportunities, higher-quality education, and jobs with significant potential. What if we were to tell them that their future is already here, in Beersheba? That they needn’t leave to find themselves the most sought-after profession in the 21st century.
Now, the critical significance of higher education tracks that provide academic training in the field of cyber comes into the picture. Higher education is the key to real change. I’m not talking about short-term courses or merely professional training, but rather academic degrees, advanced research, the development of analytical thinking, and the ability to solve complex problems, which only a higher education can provide.
A hub for cybersecurity and AI
Such academic preparatory tracks, which confer degrees in cybersecurity, provide more technical information and tools for strategic thinking, as well as give the students advanced abilities and deep understanding of the changing landscape of digital threats. In times that require us to stay a step ahead of those threats, this is precisely the investment that the State of Israel must make in Israeli youth, especially from the peripheries.
Beersheba is not just any southern city; it is located in the most natural place for holding a vital discussion regarding the future of cybersecurity in the age of AI. Here, the leaders with the relevant knowledge, researchers, and experts come together towards their common goal: to nurture and launch the next generation of information security professionals and to fortify Israel’s national robustness.
Yet, for that to actually happen, we need more than just conferences and events. We have to make practical investments in academic infrastructures, actively cooperate with other local institutions of higher education and hi-tech industries, and promote real governmental incentives for cyber companies so they will establish development centers in Beersheba and not just in the central region.
By investing in high-quality academic training in cybersecurity in the southern region, two critical goals are achieved simultaneously. First, we strengthen our self-defense capabilities by securing enough professional experts able to cope with tomorrow’s threats. Secondly, we create a real opportunity for young adults from the Negev to stay here and build a promising career while developing their own region.
It’s not merely a matter of personal comfort or geographical preference. It’s a question of social justice and the proper use of our most precious resource – our talented young people. Each young person who leaves the southern region for the central region is a loss not only to his/her family and community, but also to the entire region; every young person who stays here and succeeds is a success story that will encourage all those who follow.
It’s time to go from words to deeds! The time has come to make real investments in higher education in the field of cybersecurity in southern Israel: to create unique tracks for academic excellence, to offer more generous scholarships, and to build genuine bridges between academia and industry. Now, we must transform Beersheba not only into the cyber capital of Israel, but also into a living, breathing, reality that attracts the best minds and retains them.
Cyber is not just a field of the future; it is also the key to equality and justice for all Israel’s citizens, from the North to the Negev. The moment has finally arrived to realize this latent potential.
The writer is the founder of SCE, Shamoon College of Engineering.