The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) that aims to support entrepreneurs in sustainable, agrarian, innovative and international business has recently collaborated with the Palestine India Techno Park (PITP) whose objectives are embedded in becoming the engine of growth and clustering in the technology sector and thereby use technology and innovation as tools to promote economic growth in Palestine. The PITP and RVO under the supervision and support of The Netherlands Representative Office recently launched the start of “CoCreateMyFuture Hackathon 2021” to serve the agriculture/agritech sector in Palestine.
The initiative is aimed at familiarizing and motivating Palestinian students on entrepreneurship and active citizenship by inviting them to work on real business challenges in the field of agriculture/agritech through an online Hackathon. The project targets young females and males across different geographical locations throughout the Palestinian Territories those with a strong affinity with active citizenship and entrepreneurship.
The candidates are recent graduates or students in the last year of their education with a background in agriculture, IT, business, social sciences, entrepreneurship, tech, accounting, or environmental issues. The “CoCreateMyFuture Hackathon 2021” was implemented by Palestine India Techno Park in several stages. Firstly, it used the resources available to recruit experts in order to identify challenges that the agricultural/agritech sector is facing. Secondly, once challenges were dentified, students and recent graduates were recruited and offered the platform and tools necessary to find solutions for the identified challenges.
The participants had then participated in a Hackathon competition where they pitched their ideas and solutions to a qualified panel of experts. Participants received an accredited certificate from Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) upon completion of the program and the winning idea/team was prized with support to further develop their business case, consisting of an educational course from a renowned institution in fields of agritech, IT and business development.