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WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED FROM ISRAEL
Points for throught the Ambrosetti Club Innovation and Technology Community
CHE COSA ABBIAMO IMPARATO DA ISRAELE
Spunti di riflessione dalla Community Innovazione e Tecnologia
di Ambrosetti Club
by
Ambrosetti Club
(bilingual version)
2016.
www.ambrosetti.eu - www.technologyforum.eu
http://www.ambrosetti.eu/en/summit-workshop-forum/forum-villa-deste
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What we have learned from Israel
Points for thought from the Ambrosetti Club Innovation and Technology Community
“All my life I have worked to ensure that Israel’s future is based on science and technology as well as
on an unwavering moral commitment. They called me a dreamer. But today, when I look at Israel, we
all can see clearly that the greater the dream, the more spectacular the results.” Shimon Peres
Israel is the country with the greatest number of start-ups per square kilometer in the world. And it is
also the country in the world that attracts more risk capital for high-tech start-ups. Israel has more
companies quoted on NASDAQ than any other country, apart from the United States.
Thanks to these “firsts”, the country has emerged on the global innovation scene as the new “Start Up
Nation”, a high-technology paradise. Many writers have reviewed the “history of the Israeli economic
miracle”, in an attempt to explain “how a small country with just over eight million inhabitants, without
natural resources and tormented by continuous wars was able to increase its economic growth fiftyfold in sixty years and become the high-tech innovation center”. Among these, Dan Senor and Saul
Singer stand out for a number of original insights that have made their best-seller, Start Up Nation
(2009) a classic that is required reading in business schools around the world.
The Ambrosetti Club Innovation and Technology Community, formed in 2011 with the goal of
contributing to creating an innovation ecosystem in Italy by promoting dialog between leading
representatives from research, business, finance and government, immediately turned its attention to
Israel. From the very first Technology Forum (2012) it has hosted Israeli experts and examined the
country in-depth in a number of editions of its “The Innovation Ecosystem: Paths to Growth for
Business and the Nation” report.
Among the experts that have taken part in the meetings of the InnoTech Community over the years,
we are proud to mention: Peretz Lavie, President of Technion - Israel Institute of Technology; Yossi
Matias, VP Google Search and Managing Director, Israel R&D Center; Eyal Shimoni, VP of
Technology at Strauss Group and Board Member of the FoodTech incubator in Israel; Nava Swersky
Sofer, Co-Chairperson of NanoIsrael; Manuel Trajtenberg, Chairman, Planning & Budgeting
Committee of the Council For Higher Education and former Chief Economic Advisor to the Prime
Minister. Each of them has helped us to better understand the “Israel phenomenon”, a complex and
richly-faceted phenomenon with a number of truly unique aspects, such as the role of the army, the
development of military technologies and their applications to civilian life; compulsory military service
as a precondition for the development of technological and managerial skills, and a contact network
for young Israelis; or the spirit that distinguishes the entire country, comprised of talent, tenacity,
mission, risk-taking, and a very unusual way of accepting failure ... In a word: “Chutzpa”, a powerful
mix of audacity, creativity and initiative.
We have always been convinced that Italy must find its own path to innovation, and that it cannot copy
or simply import the best innovation ecosystems from around the globe. However, we believe
something can be learned from every successful model, and the case of Israel, in particular, offers
important aspects from which to draw inspiration.
First of all, the Vision so masterfully outlined by Shimon Peres, who always put innovation, science
and technology at the center, because of his iron-clad belief that scientific and technological
development is the basis for the social and economic progress of the country.
Clear and effective governance, and public policy aimed at supporting it. The Israeli government
entrusted the Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS)—recently renamed the Israel Innovation Authority
(IIA) and part of the Ministry of the Economy—with implementing government policy in support of
Research and Development. Its mission is very clear: The goal of the OCS is to assist in the
development of technology in Israel as a means of fostering economic growth, encouraging
technological innovation and entrepreneurship, leveraging Israel’s scientific potential, enhancing the
knowledge base of industry in Israel, stimulating high value-added R&D and encouraging R&D
collaboration both nationally and internationally. A variety of ongoing support programs developed
and offered by the OCS play a major role in enabling Israel to be a key center for high tech
entrepreneurship.
An active integrated system of collaboration between universities and innovation, which means
that, today, every university or research body has its own highly-advanced innovation center and that
basic research almost always results in applications for industry and patents. Universities are true
“entrepreneurial universities” which, alongside traditional missions of excellence in teaching and
research, aim to maximize spin-offs from the knowledge generated from an economic and marketbased standpoint. This is also the result of the presence of technology transfer offices that are
structured and equipped with skilled personnel. An example is T3, the technology transfer office of
Technion, whose goal is to transform solid research into market-ready technologies and provide
support for their commercialization. The results are impressive:
 100 invention disclosures per year
 700 patent families
 $35M in turnover per year
 over 40 companies in the portfolio that have collected more than $300M in the last three years
alone; 6 quoted companies worth over $4B
 in twenty years of activity, 1602 companies have been created, over $6B has been collected; the
accumulated value is over $23B and around 95,000 jobs have been generated
As President Peretz Lavie said: “Technion is an Institute that changes the Economy of its Country”
A dynamic financial system that is open to risk which guarantees the availability of adequate
resources. Today, Israel is the country that attracts more risk capital for high-tech start-ups in the
world. This is the result of focused policies and integrated public-private initiatives which, over the
years, have succeeded in attracting significant resources with a leverage effect. It all began in 1993
when the Ministry for Industry and the Ministry for Finance launched the Yozma Funda, an investment
program of over $120 million aimed at developing a VC market in Israel and financing corporate
innovation.
Extraordinary international openness: Israelis consider the world their domestic market and have
specific programs to welcome companies and talent from abroad. The concrete, operational link with
international markets is fostered with unparalleled precision and energy because it represents the
fundamental infrastructure that makes the system sustainable.
Last but not least, its entrepreneurial culture that inspires high-tech talent to think about creating a
start-up instead of waiting to find a position in a university or large company. In Israel,
entrepreneurship, research and innovation are “cool”. And the government “goes to bat” for those who
create companies. Once again, the result is not accident: “Entrepreneurship is not a gift, it’s something
that can be taught”. For example, in every course at Technion—whether biology, chemistry, materials
science or robotics—alongside technical lessons are lessons in entrepreneurship.
The Italian innovation ecosystem has these elements in embryonic form. The challenge is to boost the
national innovation system and strengthen its relations and means of interaction with the
local/industrial universe as part of a coherent and organic strategy capable of re-establishing the
competitiveness of the economic system on a basis that is solid and projected towards the future.
---The next Innovation & Technology Community event that will examine the Israeli model is the Life Sciences
Technology Forum (Milan, September 26, 2016). The speaker will be Ora Dar, Head of the Life Sciences Sector,
Israel Innovation Authority.
The sixth Technology Forum will take place in May 2017. For additional information: www.technologyforum.eu
Che cosa abbiamo imparato da Israele
Spunti di riflessione dalla Community Innovazione e Tecnologia di Ambrosetti Club
“All my life I have worked to ensure that Israel’s future is based on science and technology as well as
on an unwavering moral commitment. They called me a dreamer. But today, when I look at Israel, we
all can see clearly that the greater the dream, the more spectacular the results.” Shimon Peres
Israele è il paese con più start-up per chilometro quadrato del mondo. Ed è anche il paese che attira
più capitale di rischio destinato alle start-up tecnologiche del mondo. Israele ha un numero di società
quotate al NASDAQ superiore a qualsiasi altro paese, al di fuori degli Stati Uniti.
Con questi primati la nazione si è imposta sulla scena mondiale dell'innovazione come la nuova “Start
Up Nation”, il Paese paradiso dell'alta tecnologia. Molti autori hanno ripercorso la ‘storia del miracolo
economico israeliano’, cercando di spiegare “come un piccolo paese con poco più di otto milioni di
abitanti, privo di risorse naturali, travagliato da continue guerre, sia riuscito ad aumentare la sua
crescita economica di cinquanta volte in sessant’anni e a diventare il centro propulsore dell’hi-tech”.
Tra questi, Dan Senor e Saul Singer si sono distinti per alcune interpretazioni originali che hanno reso
il loro best seller Start Up Nation (2009) un classico, consigliato nelle business school di tutto il
mondo.
La Community Innovazione e Tecnologia di Ambrosetti Club, avviata nel 2011 con l’ambizione di
contribuire a creare un ecosistema dell’innovazione in Italia favorendo il dialogo tra i massimi
esponenti della ricerca, del business, della finanza e delle istituzioni, ha da subito rivolto il suo
sguardo a Israele; sin dalla prima edizione del Technology Forum (2012), ha ospitato esperti israeliani
e dedicato approfondimenti al caso nelle varie edizioni del paper “L’ecosistema per l’innovazione:
quali strade per la crescita delle imprese e del paese”.
Tra gli esperti intervenuti in questi anni alle riunioni della Community InnoTech, siamo lieti di citare:
Peretz Lavie, President of the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology; Yossi Matias, VP Google
Search and Managing Director, Israel R&D Center; Eyal Shimoni, VP of Technology at Strauss Group
and Board Member of the FoodTech incubator in Israel;.Nava Swersky Sofer,Co-Chairperson of
NanoIsrael; Manuel Trajtenberg, Chairman, Planning & Budgeting Committee of the Council For
Higher Education and former Chief Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister. Ognuno di loro ci ha
aiutato a comprendere meglio il ‘fenomeno Israele’, un fenomeno complesso e ricco di sfaccettature,
con alcuni elementi davvero peculiari come il ruolo dell’esercito, lo sviluppo delle tecnologie militari e
le loro applicazioni in ambito civile; come il servizio di leva obbligatorio quale presupposto per far
sviluppare competenze tecnologiche, manageriali e una rete di contatti ai giovani israeliani; e come lo
spirito che connota l’intero paese, fatto di talento, tenacia, mission, risk-taking, e di un particolarissimo
modo di affrontare l’insuccesso... In una parola: “Chutzpa”, potente mix di audacia, creatività,
iniziativa.
Da sempre siamo convinti che il nostro paese debba trovare la sua via all’innovazione, e che non
possa copiare o importare tout court i migliori ecosistemi innovativi al mondo. Riteniamo però che sia
possibile imparare qualcosa da ogni modello vincente, e che in particolare il caso israeliano offra
importanti elementi cui ispirarsi.
Innanzitutto la Visione, tracciata con grande maestria da Shimon Peres, che ha sempre messo al
centro Innovazione, Scienza e Tecnologia, con la ferrea convinzione che gli sviluppi scientifici e
tecnologici siano la base del progresso sociale ed economico del paese.
Una Governance chiara ed efficace, e policy pubbliche mirate di supporto. Il governo israeliano ha
affidato all’Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS) – recentemente rinominato Israel Innovation Authority (IIA)
- all’interno del Ministero dell’Economia, l’execution delle politiche governative a supporto di Ricerca e
Sviluppo. La missione è molto chiara: The goal of the OCS is to assist in the development of
technology in Israel as a means of fostering economic growth, encouraging technological innovation
and entrepreneurship, leveraging Israel’s scientific potential, enhancing the knowledge base of
industry in Israel, stimulating high value-added R&D and encouraging R&D collaboration both
nationally and internationally. A variety of ongoing support programs developed and offered by the
OCS play a major role in enabling Israel to be a key center for high tech entrepreneurship.
Un sistema integrato di collaborazione attiva tra Università e innovazione, che fa sì che oggi ogni
Università o ente di ricerca abbia associato un parco tecnologico avanzatissimo e che dalla ricerca di
base si passi quasi sempre alle applicazioni industriali e ai brevetti. Le Università sono vere e proprie
‘entrepreneurial universities’ che, accanto alle missioni tradizionali di eccellenza nella didattica e nella
ricerca, puntano a massimizzare le ricadute della conoscenza in chiave economica e di mercato.
Questo avviene anche grazie alla presenza di uffici di trasferimento tecnologico strutturati e dotati
di competenze qualificate, come T3, l’ufficio di trasferimento tecnologico del Technion, che mira a
trasformare la buona ricerca in tecnologie pronte per il mercato e a supportare la loro
commercializzazione. I risultati sono ragguardevoli:
 100 invention disclosure all’anno
 700 famiglie di brevetti
 $35M di fatturato all’anno
 oltre 40 aziende nel portafoglio, che hanno raccolto più di $300M solo negli ultimi tre anni; 6
aziende quotate, con una valorizzazione complessiva di oltre $4B
 in venti anni di attività sono state create 1602 aziende, si sono raccolti oltre $6B; il valore
accumulato ha superato i $23B e sono stati generati circa 95.000 posti di lavoro.
Come afferma il Presidente Peretz Lavie: “Technion is an Institute that changes the Economy of its
Country”
Un sistema finanziario dinamico e propenso al rischio che garantisce la disponibilità di risorse
adeguate. Oggi Israele è il paese che attira più capitale di rischio destinato alle start-up tecnologiche
del mondo. Questo è il risultato di policy mirate e di schemi integrativi pubblico-privati che negli anni
hanno saputo attirare ingenti risorse con un effetto leva. Tutto è partito nel 1993, quando il Ministero
dell’Industria e il Ministero delle Finanze hanno avviato Yozma Funda, programma di investimento di
oltre 120 milioni di dollari finalizzato allo sviluppo di un mercato VC in Israele e al finanziamento
dell’innovazione delle imprese.
Una straordinaria apertura internazionale: gli israeliani considerano il mondo il loro mercato interno
e hanno programmi specifici per accogliere imprese e talenti dall’estero; il collegamento operativo e
concreto con i mercati internazionali viene coltivato con precisione ed energia senza pari, perché è
questa l’infrastruttura fondamentale che consente di rendere sostenibile il sistema.
Last but not least, la cultura imprenditoriale, che induce i talenti tecnologici a pensare di creare una
start up invece di aspettare di trovare un posto in un’università o in una grande impresa. In Israele
imprenditorialità, ricerca e innovazione sono “cool”. E lo Stato “fa il tifo” per chi fa impresa. Anche in
questo caso, il risultato non è casuale: “Entrepreneurship is not a gift, it’s something that can be
taught”. A titolo di esempio, in ogni corso del Technion – dalla biologia alla chimica, dalle scienze dei
materiali alla robotica – accanto alle lezioni tecniche sono previste lezioni di imprenditorialità.
L’ecosistema dell’innovazione italiano ha in nuce questi elementi. La sfida è potenziare il sistema
d’innovazione nazionale e rafforzare i suoi rapporti e meccanismi di iterazione con l’universo
industriale-territoriale, all’interno di una strategia coerente e organica in grado di rifondare la
competitività del sistema su basi solide e proiettate sul futuro.
---Il prossimo appuntamento della Community Innovazione & Tecnologia che approfondirà il caso israeliano è il
Technology Forum Life Sciences (Milano, 26 settembre). Interverrà Ora Dar, Head of Life Sciences Sector, Israel
Innovation Authority.
La sesta edizione del Technology Forum si terrà invece a maggio 2017. Per approfondimenti:
www.technologyforum.eu