TechStart focuses on addressing the skills gaps among IT service providers in the West Bank and Gaza. Many firms are not able to scale their services or gain new customers due to limitations in the individual skills of their workforce. Firms wishing to engage in new technologies in the West Bank and Gaza will need to acquire and build the capacity of new talent and upskill existing one to meet the ever-accelerating technological evolution. Technology skill upgrading entails taking a risk of investing in human capital while also being able to retain it in the long term. Moreover, global evidence consistently shows that there is a negative correlation between firm size and investment in workforce skills. Smaller firms tend to invest significantly less in training than larger firms.  

To be able to improve these capabilities, TechStart offers technical assistance to firms, stipends for individuals to gain practical on-the-job skills, and firm-level grants to address these challenges.

 

Programs

 

►UPSkill Program

The Upskill Program focuses on helping IT firms (including tech and tech enabled startups) upskill their workforce to scale up their business, increase their opportunities for growth, and to attract new local and international clients. 

UpSkill will help upgrade the skills of the Palestinian IT service workforce through provision of stipends through the following window grants: 

 

• The student internship stipends window/grant
• Train-to-hire stipends window/grant
• The On-the-job training stipends window/grant
• Expatriate and diaspora stipends window/grant

 

►Advisory Services to enhance managerial capabilities

TechStart provides technical assistance to eligible Palestinian IT services firms to help improve their managerial and organizational development, strategy, leadership skills, and energy efficiency, where needed and relevant, through a structured program. 

 

►IT and Gender Needs Assessment and Engagement

TechStart aims to increase women’s access to employment in Palestinian IT service companies, including management and leadership roles, by conducting a comprehensive assessment of the effect of gender on women’s employment in the IT services industry. The purpose of this is to map the current employment landscape of IT service companies, creating a better understanding of the expectations of hiring managers when recruiting, promoting women’s participation and advancement in the workforce, increasing employee retention rates, in addition to identifying gender-based constraints faced by employees working in the sector. Through this assessment, TechStart will design and then pilot effective solutions in the market to increase women’s opportunities and employment prospects.