The IDF Teamed Up With Hi-Tech Companies to Help Disabled Kids

The C4i & Cyber Defense Directorate has a long tradition of using themed hackathons – software-creating and programming marathons – to wrap up the final stage of their officers course. This time, cadets didn’t fend off White Walkers or take on Death Eaters. Instead, C4i & Cyber Defense Directorate cadets worked with the Israeli Navy, the Israeli Air Force, the Intelligence Directorate, local Hi-Tech companies, and Aleh Negev, a rehabilitation village for disabled children and adults, to develop special projects that serve the community.

“At the end of the (officers) course,  I felt that I wanted to donate to the community and to improve the lives of the people in this country,” said cadet Moshe. “That’s how the idea of this hackathon was born.”

“At the beginning, we sat with the staff at Aleh Negev, in order to understand their needs,” said one of the soldiers. “We understood that we needed a data system with the children’s information in order to help the staff and the volunteers get to know them better. In addition, we built a system for parents so they could know what was going on with their kids during the day.”

Another group of soldiers decided to build an anti-pedophelia algorithm that can recognize keywords and content, in order to help the police locate people and websites posting and possessing illegal content. One of the group members, who had volunteered with the police in the past, passed the algorithm on to the Israel Police.

“It was important for me to combine different units from the IDF in this event” said cadet Moshe, “ we talked a lot about increasing communication between the different forces and units of the IDF in officer’s course, which is why I wanted to create a common language for everyone.”

“The objective to help the community didn’t end in those 24 hours,” said cadet Moshe. “In the next month, some soldiers will visit Aleh Negev to see how the systems are functioning and to improve them.”