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irst and foremost, the Technion community would like to deeply thank the former Executive Vice President & Director General, Prof. Boaz Golany, for his many years of service and achievement. In mid-January 2023, I entered my position as the Executive Vice President & Director General after more than a decade of work in administrative positions in the field of higher education. This past year ushered in the post-pandemic period; most of the Technion’s regular on-campus activities have been reinstated. Some lessons have been learned: For instance, enabling one remote-work day for administrative staff, zoom-remote meetings, etc. In mid-February 2023, the Technion suffered a serious cyber incident. Fortunately, we may now report that most of the affected IT systems have been restored to normal operations. Even so, a thorough investigation is required to understand the source of the cyber incident and to identify those actions that should be taken to minimize additional cyber incidents in the future.
Finance
Israel’s economy grew 5.8% over the 12 month period ending September 2022. The indicators continued to show solid growth, but the most recent data showed a slight decline in the growth rate. There are increasing signs of a global economic slowdown which is similarly liable to leave its mark on Israel’s economy. Compared to previous years, the second half of 2022 was characterized by an environment of high inflation. The consumer price index in Israel rose by 5.3% in 2022, up from the 2.8% increase recorded a year earlier; this increase was driven by the rising cost of energy, housing, transportation, communication, and food. The higher than expected GDP growth, together with the high inflation figures, support a rate hike of 0.1% to 3.75% in 2022 by the Bank of Israel Monetary Committee. The above-mentioned and other macroeconomic indicators exert significant influence on the financial activity of the Technion. The main challenges and emphases for the next several years will continue to be the recruitment and absorption of new faculty members, elevating the quality of teaching and upgrades to physical facilities.
Human Resources
Over the past twelve months, we have taken significant steps to improve non-faculty pay and working conditions and, thus, guarantee the university’s ability to attract quality people – while achieving greater efficiency and flexibility in the management of workers. A recently signed multi-year contract agreement with the engineers union gives Technion engineers parity with their counterparts in the private sector. In November 2022, another agreement was formalized providing enhanced job security to a broad swath of Technion administrative personnel, support staff and project workers.
In the course of last year, we embarked on a project to systematically reevaluate the job classifications for Technion’s administrative staff positions; workers and managers are being consulted throughout the university to validate job descriptions in light of present realities and needs, and to revise them accordingly. Down the line, this project will positively affect the quality of job interviews, performance assessments and internal workforce training programs at the Technion. In a separate matter, a number of faculties and selected units participated in a six-month “Remote Work from Home” pilot project. By years end, the pilot was extended to include the rest of the university. The pilot project was founded on a clear definition of the tasks that may be executed remotely from home and on measurable performance goals, and was accompanied by a real-time audit of relevant processes within the participating faculties and units. Status meetings with managers were conducted as a tool to assess project success and draw appropriate conclusions. During the year, we integrated the “K2” cloud-based digital process automation solution enabling us to digitally process the HR information of new workers; all of the documents in existing personnel files were scanned and entered into the SAP-compliant Documentum System (a document management software).
Safety Unit (SU)
Throughout the year, the Safety Unit performed on campus 134 laboratory risk assessments and nine building safety surveys, and recommended the commissioning of 44 new principal investigator labs. In addition, the SU has also published 30 construction directives and performed very detailed, campus-wide surveys as relates to asbestos, compressed gas systems (cylinders and tubing) and corrosion safety. Due to continuous improvement of the safety culture in the various Technion faculties, the number of work-related accidents reported in 2021-22 was 44. Fourty-three percent of those work-related accidents resulted in at least a 3-day leave of absence. There were 19 ‘near-miss’ reports last year – many of which were investigated thoroughly. The SU has trained almost 10,000 employees (up almost 20% from the previous year), in 147 training cycles (up nearly 16% from the previous year). The number of trainees using the SU coursewares increased last year by 72%. The unit manages a 6 million NIS annual budget for safety improvement projects. This includes specific budget grants allocated for asbestos evacuation, advancing business licensing processes for various buildings around campus, and digitization projects affecting the entire scope of operations at the Technion.
Security
Well aware that in times of emergency the campus may be forced to act on its own, the Security and Emergency Unit continued shoring up campus emergency preparedness for earthquakes, fires and missile strikes. This year, two new emergency teams were established, briefed and trained:
> The Resilience Team – whose role is to offer emotional support and reassurance during multiple casualty events, to respond to special-needs communities affected by an emergency, and to activate volunteers;
> The Information and Communications Team – tasked in emergencies with providing situation reports to the campus community, supporting Technion workers and their families, giving individuals special approval to work despite a decision to close down the campus, manning and enhancing the service capacity of an emergency call center. It is additionally responsible for communicating with nearby municipalities, and implementing uniform messaging across Technion media platforms and other communications channels.
These new teams join the other existing teams that deal with rescue activities, fire extinction, hazardous and toxic materials, and medical first aid. Over the past year, the Security and Emergency Unit attended to technological facets in relation to 27 construction projects: entrance control, security cameras, public address (PA) systems, and alarm systems. The unit secured some eighty-seven events and happenings taking place on Technion’s various campuses. Our security personnel handled 3,500 incidence reports relating to fires, maintenance issues, medical events, situations endangering public order or public safety. This year the unit painstakingly introduced a security cameras protocol, ensuring that the use of cameras accords with the law and statutory regulations – Israel’s Privacy Protection Law and the Privacy Protection Regulations (promulgated by the Ministry of Justice). We mapped 1,012 cameras on campus and, in conjunction with the Division of Computing and Information Services, we ironed out all matters concerning the cameras’ installation. A work process was delineated (including, areas of responsibility and the sequence of actions assumed by the Division of Computing and Information Services, the Security and Emergency Unit, camera suppliers and telecommunications contractors). We began incorporating security camera guidelines throughout the campus – using an updated procedure including new online forms. Approximately one half of the existing cameras have been connected to the Security and Emergency Center which monitors them 24/7.
Computers and Information Technology
During the 2021-22 academic year, CIS invested heavily in advancing the Student Life Cycle Management (SLCM) project, thereby modernizing our student and campus information systems. CIS also provided support for integrating the Technion into the national Current Research Information System (CRIS), which will be used by the government in the budgeting process to evaluate Israeli universities’ academic output. Significant efforts were also invested in continuing the migration of computing services to the cloud. In the area of High Performance Computing (HPC), a major effort to refurbish the campus datacenter transformed it into a state-of-the-art facility. We additionally implemented major hardware renewal and upgrades – including the installation of the strongest AI-cluster in Israeli academia. As in previous years, CIS applied a significant portion of its annual budget to protecting the Technion against imminent cyber threats.
Construction and Maintenance
The 2022-23 academic year is characterized by a return to routine in all of our activities on campus, while demonstrating sensitivity to educational and research needs in the execution of construction projects. This year researchers took possession of 52 new laboratories. Building of the Broshim Dormitories was completed, and 360 students moved into 143 residential apartments. The Aviva and Andrew Goldenberg Architecture Studio Pavilion structure was completed and handed over to the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning. Work on the Zisapel Electrical and Computer Engineering Building that is now being concluded includes an additional parking facility and full rehabilitation of the central promenade on campus. A new structure for the Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering is currently under construction. Similarly, a new structure for the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering is currently under construction. We also replaced some 10 heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems (HVAC) across the campus. We added hundreds of feet of fire suppression lines, and executed numerous jobs involving the sealing of roofs and renovation of classrooms and teaching facilities in every part of the campus.
Five new buildings are currently under design: the Andre Cohen Deloro Building for Transformative Biomedical Sciences and Engineering; the Resnick Sustainability Center for Catalysis; an additional building for the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine; a second building for the Henry and Marilyn Taub Faculty of Computer Science; a new main building for the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering;
Administration and Logistics
The Administration Logistics Unit is an operative arm whose work pertains to certain operational and administrative domains that cut across the organization. This past year, several processes were given particular emphasis:
> Activities that advance collaboration and the introduction of new companies to the campus, and the bolstering of companies that have new cooperation agreements with Technion;
> Building a multi-year plan of action to enhance sustainability practices, including varied areas – such as streamlining energy use, waste disposal policies, green construction, the water system, public information and more – in conformity with Technion’s policy of making strides on the sustainability front;
> The establishment and consolidation of a professional unit serving the insurance needs of the entire campus;
> The completion of a comprehensive, multi-domain plan to make Technion facilities fully accessible to all who come on campus.