02-02 Technology

We all love those grape-shaped tomatoes. Well, they are a product of Israeli agricultural research. They are designed for shipping without spoiling. This is one of the thousands of specialized products designed and developed in Israel that are changing the world.
The public sees Israel in terms of its dispute with its Arab neighbours, but smart global investors see Israel as one of the most technology-savvy nations in the world with something like 264 foreign research centres, and over 23,000 Israelis working directly in research and development.
Getting back to agriculture, I love what they call “smart water”, a form of drip technology that uses scarce water drip by drip with little waste. This technology is now being used around the world. And water shortages are the crisis of the future.
Here is a great story. I was sitting next to an Israeli Director of the Ministry of Industry Trade and Tourism at the International Small Business Congress in Amsterdam in 1984. We both liked to take in sessions associated with transferring technology.
The speaker was a mid-sized Dutch company that had taken the research on propeller design developed by a local professor and created a company that was now selling the propellers to small plane manufacturers around the globe. The professor had a share of the company and a position on the Board.
The debate was about whether professors are doing original research or trying to solve the problems of private business. The speaker suggested that governments allow universities to make their own decisions on how much cooperation they want their professors to have with the private sector.
Well look at Israel today, and you cannot find a university that does not ensure that its researchers are able to commercialize their research. There is something like seven different solar technologies developed by Israeli professors that are now being developed and sold globally by private companies. The photo shows one technology that captures about 70% of the sun’s energy rather than the traditional 40%.
This kind of research is very strategic, because cheaper and better renewal energy technologies will have a bigger impact on the warming climate than the politics of coal, or whether Canada should build pipelines to supply China with its oil.
It does not seem to matter in Israel research. If it is about the future, Israel is in the forefront. Its aerospace, military equipment, desalination plants, agricultural production, renewable energy and even drone technology. The technology of Israel is so incredible it is not believable. Love the photo of Israeli drone technology with future military and civilian applications.
What I learned from my Israeli friends in the Industry Ministry is the degree of cooperation between the public and private sector. They have all the programs and tax incentives of other nations, but what makes them different is their efficiency.
What a difference, comparing Israel and Canada. I founded an e-learning company that uses new Internet technologies to create online learning. But the problem has always been the financing of our research and development initiatives. The governments have helpful tax-credit programs, but they take three years to process. Our priority as a nation is selling resources not ideas.
Israel, on the other hand, is doing research that quickly finds its way into the private section and then into world markets in the form of products that are not price sensitive. Everything they do is about the future.