The Palestinian tech sector has long been vibrant and resilient. It has flourished in the West Bank despite the violence of the Israeli occupation and its restrictions of movement, and remains one of few sources of employment and hope for skilled youth in the Gaza Strip. Even as the recent onslaught in Gaza has killed more than 43.000 people and destroyed or damaged around a quarter of buildings and infrastructure, some Palestinians in Gaza continue to work as online freelancers and remote workers against all odds.
From provisional co-working spaces called “Hope Hubs”, some Palestinian workers in Gaza spend their days doing remote jobs and online freelance work in the midst of ongoing warfare, translating documents or programming software. As Algoul, an English teacher recently interviewed by the Guardian said, she “spends six hours a day in that co-working space completing assignments received via Upwork”, earning some $200 a month.
This resilience to keep on working in the midst of war and crisis is an extreme form of a long-standing growth of Palestinian skilled talents who provide remote services through platforms and remote employers all over the world. Faced with extreme conditions and wide-ranging restrictions to their freedom to move, a young Palestinian workforce managed to leverage the benefits of an increasingly digital world of work.
The Digital Economy and Society Research Cluster recently hosted one of the key organisations that have grown the Palestinian tech economy: Gaza Sky Geeks (GSG). Since 2011, GSG has provided freelancers, founders, and coders with the technical training and support they need to earn an income online and remotely. Supported and founded by Mercy Corps, it remains one of Palestine’s most important bridge builders between a young skilled workforce and a global digital marketplace.
The event at the University of Edinburgh hosted Haneen Bader, GSG’s Community and Mentorship Officer, alongside Director Alan El-Kadhi, who offered a unique window into the difficult challenges Palestinians faced in maintaining a viable digital economy during these difficult times.
Palestinian online workers must provide high quality services, rather than low price
The GSG Team underlined that Palestine, and especially Gaza, suffers from a dire economy, is without a functioning market system, and offers very limited employment prospects even for the many Palestinians who have a university degree.
Against this backdrop, online work allows Palestinians to find employment and generate income in functioning markets outside of the restrictions affecting the economy in Palestine. However, the large volume of young and educated Palestinians are not always equipped with the skills to secure online work, which is why initiatives such as Gaza Sky Geeks are so vital.
On challenge has been that a global supply of tech talent from low-cost countries competes for online work at a global scale. Palestine is not a low-cost country, so Palestinian tech talent must compete on quality and specialist skills, rather than trying to be cheaper.
However, for this to be realized and for Palestine to build a sustainable digital inclusive economy, the country needs a large pool of skilled individuals and hundreds of small or medium-sized tech companies that each specialise in a high-value niche services.
Wha Gaza Sky Geeks is doing to revive the sector
The tech-sector is even more crucial and relevant to livelihoods and the Palestinian economy than before the events of 7 October 2023 and the destruction that followed. Digital work remains one of the few viable opportunities for sustainable and inclusive economic growth in Palestine. The internet enables both individuals and companies to access functioning, external markets and bring revenue into Palestine.
This is why GSG has invested into the upskilling of Palestinian Individuals with high value skills to work online, and the upskilling of Palestinian tech companies in technical, business, sales and marketing fields to succeed in a global market. At the same time, GSG aims to connect individual talent to companies to global market, including through internships and job placements.
Digital economic recovery
The digital recovery of the Gaza Strip will require stable infrastructure and a functioning digital ecosystem, such as viable digital payment services and reliable internet connectivity, as well as workspaces. A key part of recovery will be to help the large pool of existing talents to re-enter workspaces and re-launch their economic activities.
This will require the rebuilding of multiple coworking spaces that are geographically dispersed across Gaza, refresher trainings for those who have been out of work due to the conflict, as well as psycho-social support for trauma. A particularly important focus should be single mothers and people with disabilities, according to GSG.
They also emphasised the many current opportunities, highlighting the need to keep on investing into Palestinian talent in the West Bank and Gaza, who are among the world’s most educated young populations and known for delivering high-quality work and services.
How you can help now: Call for support by Gaza Sky Geeks
The greatest challenge for Palestinian tech is in securing engagements with customers and employers outside of Palestine. GSG and Palestinian talents seeks your help.
IF YOU ARE A COMPANY outside of Palestine
- Remote Internships to help young Palestinians increase their skills and experience, and potentially lead to employment.
- Remote jobs to provide income generating work contracts to Palestinian individuals and tech companies.
Register your interest to consider hiring Palestinian tech talent
IF YOU ARE A SKILLED MENTOR OR BUSINESS ADVISER outside of Palestine
- We seek mentors who can support Palestinians to improve their technical and employability skills to increase their chances of finding work
- We seek Business Advisers who can help Palestinian tech companies to expand into new international markets
Register your interest to be an advisor / mentor to Palestinian participants
IF YOU ARE A PSYCHO_SOCIAL SUPPORT EXPERT
- Gazans have endured extreme levels of trauma. We seek to connect those seeking support with specialists.
IF YOU ARE A FOUNDATION or INSTITUTIONAL DONOR
- We seek financial support from corporates, foundations and governments to enable the ongoing operation of Gaza Sky Geeks.
Subscribe to the GSG monthly newsletter or email info@gazaskygeeks.com for more information and connecting for further support.
