JERUSALEM, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Israel announced Wednesday the launching of a healthcare startup incubator in the northern Arab city of Sakhnin, the first in the country's Arab localities.
The Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) said one of the new center's main goals is to promote many startup companies in Arab society, promoting tech-based projects in the fields of medical devices, digital medicine, food tech, and artificial intelligence for medical applications, among others.
It will provide comprehensive solutions, training, and professional support for tech entrepreneurs, work closely with hospitals, academia, and the business sector, and include a hi-tech employment center for the Arab society in northern Israel, according to the IIA.
The new center is part of a joint funding program of the Economy Ministery and the IIA aimed at increasing the representation and integration of the Arab population in the Israeli hi-tech.
Arab Israelis comprise 21 percent of Israel's population, but the proportion of Arabs among all hi-tech employees ranges between 2 percent and 3 percent, according to the IIA. ■
