New Technological Frontiers: Palestine Techno Park Introductory Session

The Palestine Techno Park held an introductory session on 12 October on Birzeit University’s campus. The session introduced the college community – management, staff, and faculty – to the Techno Park project and its aims, strategies, vision, and possibilities for cooperation with the university.

The session also detailed the Techno Park’s fields of operation, noting the ongoing construction of the first of ten buildings, the Palestine-India Techno Park Building, which will provide office spaces that suits the various needs of companies, both big and small. The building will also offer communal workspaces, as well as labs that will facilitate innovation and creativity.

The Techno Park’s director, Layth Kassis, highlighted the one of the park’s recently launched initiatives, which supports student and recent-graduate technology projects. He said, “This initiative aims to support various technological projects through student and alumni-oriented training programs under the theme of ‘Business ideation and business model-canvas training.” The initiative, added Kassis, is funded by the Islamic Development Bank, and is supervised by the United Nations Development Program’s Deprived Families Economic Empowerment Program.

The Palestine Techno Park is funded by the Indian government. . Twenty acres of Birzeit University’s campus grounds were donated to the park by the university’s board of trustees, citing the park’s proximity to academic research centers and an active student body as catalysts for its future success. The park’s location also benefits the students by providing jobs, training, and networking opportunities.

The park strives to position itself as a leader and exemplar for Palestinian universities, an incubator of new technological startups and a leading research and development center in various disciplines such as virtual and augmented reality; digital and media broadcast; renewable energy; robotics, internet of things (IoT);cloud solutions; and 3D printing.