Beyond the Headlines
- Two Israeli start-ups won first and second place at the Global Innovation Awards 2016, a start-up competition featuring 21 start-ups from around the world.
- Israel has 261 start-up accelerators as of June 2016, according to the IVC Research Center in Tel Aviv, a private research firm tracking trends in Israeli high-tech, venture capital and private equity.
- According to Scientific American, “Mediterranean seawater pumped from an intake a mile offshore is transformed at Israel's new Sorek desalination plant into enough drinking water to supply 1.5 million people. The plant is the largest reverse-osmosis desalination facility in the world. Just a few years ago, Israel was running out of water. Now it has a surplus.”
- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, in discussing a manned mission to Mars during a lecture at Bar-Ilan University on June 6, said NASA looks forward to collaborating with Israel to achieve this goal, praising the nation’s “incredibly innovative people on the cutting edge of technology.” Bolden added, ““We are excited about ongoing relations with the Israel Space Agency and what we can do together on the International Space Station.”
- Israel was among the very first countries to send rescue teams to assist victims of recent earthquakes in Ecuador, Japan and Italy.
- The World Economic Forum's 2016 Global Competitive Index ranked Israel third out of 140 countries for "capacity for innovation" and "quality of research institutions."
- The Times of Israel highlighted Israel’s global leadership in life sciences, noting, "more than one out of every four of the medicines, treatments, and technologies in use today have Israeli roots."
- During his March visit to Israel, Vice President Joe Biden declared: "Israel is about to become the epicenter of energy in this entire region, and can have a profound, positive impact on relationships from Egypt to Turkey to Cyrpus to Greece to Jordan."
- The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported the Middle East is experiencing its worst drought in 900 years, but added the impact on Israel was "significantly dampened by its array of six desalination plants." The article went on to say, "When the sixth plant in Ashdod goes into full production, Israel's desalination plants will reach 600 million cubic meters of water, which is nearly 70 percent of Israel's domestic water consumption."
- An article on YnetNews.com reports Apple “has so far invested $1.2 billion in Israel and continues to eagerly recruit new Israeli employees.”
- A recent survey issued by U.S. News & World Report ranked Israel the eighth most powerful country in the world. The power rankings were based on the following factors: "a leader, economically influential, politically influential, strong international alliances, strong military."
- In commemorating the 25th anniversary of Microsoft’s Israel R&D Center, Bill Gates said Israeli technology “is improving the world.” He added, “I can’t wait to see what they come up with in the next 25 years.”
- Five Israeli start-ups are creating new advances in ‘disability tech,’ enabling physically challenged individuals to engage in once unthinkable activities, such as traversing rugged terrain via high-tech wheelchairs.
- Israeli company WoundClot has created a unique bandage that could save lives on the battlefield or the operating room by stopping severe bleeding within minutes.
- Oracle acquired Israeli cloud software company Ravello Systems for an estimated $500 million.
- An Israeli-invested mini-sized manual ventilator is being used to save wounded American soldiers in Afghanistan. The device has also been utilized to treat thousands of people injured during natural disasters such as the Nepal earthquake.
- An Israeli company announced development of technology that will extend the lives of brain tumor patients. In clinical trials, the percentage of patients surviving more than two years increased dramatically.
- Intel made the largest-ever foreign investment in Israel's tech sector, $6 billion for production of the company's next generation chip.
- An Israeli company has developed inflatable isolation tents that are being used in Western Africa to halt the spread of Ebola.
A Global Innovation Leader
Israel is an internationally recognized leader in creative technologies. The World Economic Forum's 2016 Global Competitive Index placed Israel third out of 140 countries for "capacity for innovation" and "quality of research institutions."
Israel is ranked*:
- First globally for highest rate of R&D expendintures as a percentage of GDP
- First globally for innovative capacity
- First globally for highest density of startups
- Second on the Bloomberg Global Innovation Index
* Israel Ministry of Finance, January 2016