Global rankings of the top innovation ecosystems in the world consistently find Israel to be one of the world's top locations for entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. And as various studies have proven diversity is key in innovation: Diverse teams routinely outperform those dominated by sameness. In this regard the
Chief Scientist Office of the Israeli Ministry of Economy has amplified efforts to diversify the innovation landscape by including the country’s many minority communities.
This ambitious undertaking was the topic of a presentation that Chief Scientist Avi Hasson held in April at the European Parliament.
Israel has a wide range of existing minorities, such as Circassians, Druze, Bedouins and other Arab Israelis, Russian speakers and Ethiopians. Integrating all these different groups into its society – and economy - presents a challenge for the tiny nation. Israel’s Chief Scientist Avi Hasson decided to advance this undertaking concentrating on what Israel is best at: cutting-edge innovation and advanced technologies.
Mr. Hasson has put a focus, amongst others, on Arab Israelis. Due to increased efforts of the government, civil society organisations and other actors their level of education has improved considerably in the past years. Today 20% of students in relevant sectors at the Technion - Israel's most prestigious scientific-technological university - are Arab Israelis. Preferential terms have been established for companies to include them in the workforce and thus create new role models. “In the past two years the Chief Scientist Office has invested considerable efforts and funds in the development of the high-tech sector in the Arab society. Our main aim is to raise awareness to the services and available grants in order for the sector to be significantly advanced.”
The “Minority Scheme” of the Start-Up Support Programme targets companies with at least 33% of their share capital held by a “Minority Entrepreneur”, who is also working in the company’s R&D Department. Metallo-Therapy for example is one of the 20 companies that submitted applications to join this scheme. Established in 2010 by Dr. Amal Ayoub, the company develops technology for more precise tumor detection and a more accurate cancer radiation therapy and is supported by the Chief Scientist Office
.
Beyond including minorities in the different sectors of the economy, it is also essential for innovation flourish to establish cross-border links between countries, academic institutions and companies. The EU has created the basis for such cooperation for many years already with its R&D Framework Programmes. Israel was the first non-European country to join the EU Framework Programme Horizon 2020 and was ranked first among all countries for the participation rate of industrial entities. Israeli project submissions have so far received grants that sum up to a total of 302 million euro.
According to Chief Scientist Avi Hasson, “Horizon 2020 is a great example of the extremely successful strategic partnership between Israel and the EU. We are looking forward to further R&D cooperation." Or as a participant of the conference put it: “Why are we travelling to Silicon Valley if we can go to Israel?”
Subscribe to our newsletter here