Since the creation of the State of Israel, the country has built its national project in one of the most complex natural areas of the world. The country is also located in one of the most difficult regions in the world in terms of politics, surrounded by an unfriendly environment of wars and constant conflict.

In 2009, Dan Senor and Saul Singer published their already famous Start-up Nation: The story of Israel’s Economic Miracle. The unexpected and beneficial occurred. The world started looking at Israel from a different perspective. The country could show to the world a different aspect, its achievements as a nation. And the Israeli government, with no intentions, came across a concept that summarized in a brief, attractive and full of impact way a valuable leverage for the country’s diplomacy.

As a large share of the world was heading to the Russian mountain of the “Great Recession”, Israel became a model and example of the new economic and business development.

Israel, with over 5,000 start-ups, has already been acknowledge as one of the international innovation leaders. It is the 10^th country in terms of innovation, according to Bloomberg, or the second most competitive environment for innovation, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF).

These index clearly show the quality of universities and the number of highly educated citizens. These universities are not isolated centers of academic excellence. There is a very elevated level of collaboration between them and the private sector.

The government strongly endorses public and private research, development and innovation (I+D+i), focused on the creation of services and business solutions for markets that satisfy consumers and citizens needs. As a matter of fact, the Israeli government investment on I+D+I is 5% of its GDP, the second highest investment rate, just falling behind South Korea.

In addition, the government has encouraged the creation, development and growth of the national Venture Capital sector; investors willing to take higher risks than the average to support the launching or growth of new companies.

Currently there are over 300 companies in Israel in the high technology industry, with high added value, which has turn the country into a business innovation environment that directly competes against Silicon Valley, the global leader in this field.

Cybersecurity, Be’er Sheva, in the middle of the desert of Neguev, south from Tel Aviv, has become a node of new technological firms that currently attract 25% of the entire global investment in the industry.

Another example is the water treatment industry that, die to innovation in desalinization, recycling, and irrigation, has managed to transform Israel into a garden, and make a territory which is 70% desert, habitable. Let There Be Water, by Seth Siegel, is a very inspiring book on this matter.

Clearly, the background for this favorable environment towards innovation can be found in Israeli people, which constantly welcomes Jews from the diaspora, benefiting enormously from the arrival of highly qualified groups of people, coming from every country in the world, particularly from the nations that used to be part of the Soviet Union.

Finally, the country’s culture echoes the values and the spirit of the nation’s founders, encouraging to taking risks, accepting mistakes made, and having an insatiable ambition to learn from such mistakes.

Latin America has a lot to learn from Israel regarding innovation and technology. Some countries in the region have already taken a cue from the phenomenon and are taking real steps. They have understood that Israel is way closer to the future of education and to the future of work.

Source: El Blog de Jorge Canichero