‘The AI revolution is a seismic disruption, an explosion in capability,” says Dr. Gail Gilboa Freedman, Dean of the Faculty of Technology at Sapir Academic College. “In fact, it’s much more than a technological revolution. In the past, a major technological revolution might come along once every century. What we’re experiencing today is a scientific explosion that accelerates itself.”
It is the AI revolution, she explains, that has provided Sapir Academic College with the opportunity to level the playing field and make the western Negev a prime location for technological excellence. The establishment of a Faculty of Technology at Sapir reflects the recognition that technology is essential to the region’s future.
In October 2025, Gilboa Freedman, who has an extensive background in AI, mathematical modeling, and data science, joined Sapir as the founding Dean of its Faculty of Technology, with the goal of inserting Sapir at the heart of the technological transformation taking place in the western Negev.
The establishment and development of the faculty have also been supported by key regional partners, including Sderot Mayor Alon Davidi, Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council Head Uri Epstein, and Tekuma Directorate Chairman Aviad Friedman. Their partnership reflects a shared regional commitment to positioning the western Negev as a center of technological growth, education, and innovation.
The creation of the Faculty of Technology is a central component of the broader vision being led by Sapir Academic College President Prof. Nir Kedar. Under his leadership, Sapir has sought not only to recover from the events of Oct. 7, but to strengthen its role as an academic, economic, and social anchor for the western Negev. The new faculty reflects that strategy by connecting higher education, technological innovation, regional development, and employment opportunities.
Gilboa Freedman declares that there is no justification for the technological disparities between Israel’s south and the country’s center. “It’s an imbalance that we need to move away from toward a healthier equilibrium – for everyone’s benefit.”
She acknowledges that, under normal circumstances, it would be unrealistic to expect to develop a world-class technology faculty in an area that had suffered a disaster of this magnitude just three years earlier.
However, she explains, the AI revolution has fundamentally changed the competitive landscape. “It is disrupting everyone so profoundly that today academic institutions everywhere are asking themselves, ‘Will we still be relevant in three years? Will students still choose us?’ Enrollment in computer science is declining across Israel, and not just in Israel – it is falling around the world. That presents a tremendous challenge. At the same time, it also creates another gap – and gaps can become opportunities to narrow inequalities. That’s why I came here: to help ensure that AI becomes a force for reducing disparities rather than widening them.”
Gilboa Freedman says that while research shows that many academic institutions and communities decline in the years following a disaster, Sapir, which has an enrollment of over 7,000 students, has set a goal of becoming a global model of how regions can not only recover from catastrophe, but grow and thrive. “It’s not just about building back better; it’s about building back wiser. It’s about understanding what the future should look like and using the disaster as a catalyst to get there.”
Oftentimes, she points out, technological adoption tends to occur in places that are already ahead, and as a result, AI can deepen existing inequalities, rather than eliminate them. “Our answer,” she explains, “is to identify opportunities and emerging fields that other academic institutions have not yet fully focused on. Because AI is such a sweeping, transformative force – it touches virtually every discipline – it creates entirely new areas where smaller, more agile institutions can take the lead.”
Gilboa Freedman cites two areas that Sapir has targeted, including HRI (human-robot interaction), a growing field within robotics, and human longevity. “Because there are so many new fields that can be researched, taught, and developed, there is room for the periphery to become a leader – as long as we move quickly.”
She adds that AI not only provides new areas and vistas for research, but can enable talented individuals to emerge from places where traditional systems, based on grades and geographical location, would not have found.
“I’m not saying it’s suddenly easy for a child growing up in the periphery,” says Gilboa Freedman. “It isn’t. But today, a child from Sderot can dream as big as anyone else. That child has the fundamental right to receive a high-quality higher education close to home, at the only college serving the Gaza border region. Our mission is to make that possible – to enable students to remain rooted in their communities while pursuing an outstanding education, rather than feeling they have to leave home or prove themselves worthy of being accepted somewhere else just to have a future. That’s what we’re working to achieve.”
She adds that the world is far more dynamic than it once was, and people, companies, and ideas move in both directions. “Rather than focusing solely on the number of people who permanently relocate, we should also recognize those who contribute in other ways – visiting lecturers, researchers, entrepreneurs, and professionals who spend part of their week in the region.
“The same applies to businesses. A company doesn’t have to leave Tel Aviv entirely and relocate its headquarters to the western Negev to make a meaningful impact. It can establish an R&D center, create a subsidiary, or collaborate with Sapir College, combining its expertise with the region’s unique strengths. Those partnerships create opportunities for young people to build careers locally and encourage them to remain in the area.”
A key concept behind Sapir’s Lab. Explains Gilboa Freedman, “A university should be a place where students experience learning, not just receive knowledge. It should be less about passively acquiring information and more about living the educational experience – becoming a better person, both in terms of values and in the ability to create meaningful impact.
“The fields we are introducing are no longer subjects that can be confined to the four walls of a classroom, with a lecturer simply delivering information. Instead, they are disciplines that directly enhance the value chain of our graduates. Whether it’s entrepreneurship, AI, robotics, management, or product development, they allow students to experience the entire process from beginning to end, just as it unfolds in industry, while tackling real-world challenges.”
Expanding on this concept, she explains that improving the technological prowess in the western Negev need not only be measured in the growth of the population. “That is the philosophy behind Sapir’s “Living Lab” model. We’ve even developed academic programs that require students to be on campus just one day a week. Someone who lives in central Israel but spends every Thursday studying at Sapir, attends classes online on Friday, and regularly engages with the region is, in many ways, becoming part of its community.”
Gilboa Freedman points out that the western Negev offers possibilities that are not available in other areas of the country. “If I were an investor, a researcher, or a hi-tech entrepreneur, I would see extraordinary opportunities in the western Negev – not only because of the values involved, although those remain important, but because the region offers possibilities that simply don’t exist in crowded, highly competitive urban centers. This is a place where meaningful innovation and real impact are possible.
“That, to me, is the western Negev’s greatest strength. Its future lies not only in attracting permanent residents but in becoming a magnet for partnerships with organizations and companies based elsewhere. The goal is not simply to persuade people to buy a house here. It is to encourage them to visit, collaborate, work, learn, and move between regions.
“My dream is to board the train to Sapir one morning and find it filled with hi-tech professionals commuting alongside me. At the end of the day, we’d all board the train home together, and no one would even know who was traveling from where. That would be the clearest sign that the region had become fully integrated into Israel’s innovation ecosystem.”
Gilboa Freedman says that Sderot and the rest of the Negev have progressed beyond the narrative of receiving charitable assistance to help it recover. “The tragedy was immense, and the philanthropic support that followed was essential and transformative for Sapir College and the region. Thanks to that support, we can now shift our focus from recovery to growth.”
Although the Faculty of Technology is still in its early stages, it is already generating significant momentum through new academic programs, applied research, and industry partnerships. Sapir’s Applied Science Institute (SASI), Sapir’s newly established local applied research institute, is already connecting academic expertise with the practical needs of the western Negev and developing solutions to challenges emerging directly from the region. Together, these initiatives are taking shape at a pivotal moment, as the western Negev moves beyond recovery and builds the foundations for long-term technological, academic, and economic growth.
Sasi has identified areas within the Negev itself for development. “We are creating value for the community around us. If we collaborate with Soroka Medical Center’s data unit to solve problems that physicians are facing in real time, that’s a meaningful contribution. If we’re working with AgroScout, a precision agriculture company, then we’re helping address real-world challenges in agriculture. The first step, therefore, is mapping the technological needs that currently exist in the Gaza border region. From there, we can begin developing solutions.”
Gilboa Freedman says that while the western Negev has already had numerous technology initiatives, they often operated independently. Due to these initiatives, technology partnerships are beginning to work in tandem. “Now, they’re beginning to work together. For example, the partnership between Sapir College and the city of Sderot is historic. Sapir is collaborating with the city’s long-term strategy to establish itself as a hi-tech hub. That has the potential to affect tens of thousands of people.”
When asked whether she believes Sapir’s AI strategy for the western Negev will succeed, her answer is unequivocal. “It has to succeed. There really isn’t another option. Israel’s hi-tech sector cannot remain concentrated in the center of the country forever. It needs people, it needs opportunities, and companies will follow those opportunities. The companies we’re working with aren’t coming out of charity. They’re coming because they recognize the value proposition that the western Negev offers. Our role as a faculty is to accelerate a process that was going to happen anyway.” For her, that mission is about far more than economic success.
“We aspire to build a true Living Laboratory, where academia serves as a catalyst for regional transformation. The Western Negev has endured enough suffering. It deserves the opportunity to write a new chapter – one of innovation, growth, and hope.
This article was written in collaboration with Sapir Academic College.