{"id":2773,"date":"2021-12-06T18:27:22","date_gmt":"2021-12-06T17:27:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cacobi.com\/el-milagro-de-israel-asi-es-la-formula-que-lo-convirtio-en-el-nuevo-silicon-valley\/"},"modified":"2021-12-18T12:10:02","modified_gmt":"2021-12-18T11:10:02","slug":"el-milagro-de-israel-asi-es-la-formula-que-lo-convirtio-en-el-nuevo-silicon-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cacobi.com\/en\/el-milagro-de-israel-asi-es-la-formula-que-lo-convirtio-en-el-nuevo-silicon-valley\/","title":{"rendered":"The miracle of Israel: this is the formula that made it the new Silicon Valley"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israel<\/span><\/span><\/em> \u00a0is, against all probability, a highly technical nation where entrepreneurs and\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>innovation<\/span><\/span><\/strong> \u00a0abound. <\/span>Next I want to mention some points that partly explain the technological and scientific success of this country, leaving aside political questions that for the purposes of this post are irrelevant.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Living in a hostile environment has made <\/span>\u00a0the development of science and research a national priority <\/span>in\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Israel<\/span><\/span><\/em> ; <\/span>With 8 million people in the total population they boast a record number of Nobel\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>laureates<\/span><\/span><\/em> , and it also has more technology companies on the <\/span><\/span>Nasdaq<\/span><\/span><\/em> index\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0than all European countries. <\/span>What is your secret?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

When speaking of Israel, depending on the prism through which you look at it, you can draw\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>two very different types of realities\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/strong> and, if possible, even contradictory.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

On the one hand, <\/span><\/span>\u00a0that of the country that, dominated by religious and territorial confrontation<\/span><\/span><\/strong> , has been immersed for decades in endless political and military conflicts that have made Israel a practically militarized zone; <\/span>on the other, that of the only country in the Middle East that, although still fairly underground, makes homosexual liberation visible and has turned one of its cities, Tel Aviv, into one of the gay capitals of the world.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

However, <\/span><\/span>\u00a0there is a third Israel that almost nobody knows about outside the borders<\/span><\/span><\/strong> , but that is the main responsible for the economic miracle that the country has experienced in recent decades: the technological and entrepreneurial Israel.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Welcome to ‘Silicon Wadi’<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

For years, Silicon Valley, around San Francisco, has become\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>the entrepreneurial Mecca par excellence<\/span><\/span><\/strong> . <\/span>However, Israel has become for some time now its great alternative on the other side of the planet.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Not surprisingly,\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>Tel Aviv has earned the nickname ‘Silicon Wadi’\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/strong> or even ‘Silicon Valley of Silicon Valley’, in reference to the fact that Israel’s degree of technological experimentation and innovation far exceeds that of Silicon Valley.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

How has a country with so few resources become a technological and entrepreneurial power? “<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

All this has made the country\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>the second largest technological potential in the world\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/strong> (in tough competition with the United States) and the exporter of several of the best\u00a0 <\/span>technology <\/span><\/span>startups on\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/i> the planet, among which are examples such as Waze (sold to Google for 1,000 million dollars), Trusteer (to IBM for another 1,000 million), Onavo (to Facebook for 120 million) or Primesense (to Apple for 345), among many other examples.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But how did you get to this point? <\/span>How has a country with Israel, with so few resources of its own and such conflicting political and social relations, become one of the greatest technological powers in the world? <\/span>It is a long journey and, above all,\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>a formula that consists of four ingredients<\/span><\/span><\/strong> .<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

1.- Education<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

To understand the importance of education in Israel we must inevitably turn to the religious factor: 75.4% of the country’s inhabitants are Jews. <\/span>If we add to this the fact that Jews represent only about 0.2% of the world’s population but more than 20% of the Nobel Prize winners, we will get an idea of \u200b\u200bthe extent to which <\/span><\/span>\u00a0academic training represents a pillar essential in Israeli education<\/span><\/span><\/strong> .<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Para Emilio L\u00f3pez Vi\u00f1uela, director de la Oficina Econ\u00f3mica de Espa\u00f1a en Tel Aviv, el sistema educativo es clave: \u201cIsrael ha apostado desde hace muchos a\u00f1os, por\u00a0un modelo de conocimiento e innovaci\u00f3n tecnol\u00f3gica<\/strong>. Tiene un sistema acad\u00e9mico muy bueno desde la educaci\u00f3n primaria hasta m\u00e1s all\u00e1 de la educaci\u00f3n superior, y eso constituye una ventaja competitiva frente a muchos otros pa\u00edses\u201d.<\/p>\n

Israel tiene 140 ingenieros por cada 10.000 trabajadores, la cifra m\u00e1s alta del mundo\u201d<\/h2>\n

Y en este sentido,\u00a0la ingenier\u00eda ocupa un destacad\u00edsimo lugar<\/strong>. Los datos bailan de un estudio a otros, pero, seg\u00fan la mayor\u00eda de ellos, Israel tiene entre 135 y 140 ingenieros por cada 10.000 trabajadores, siendo el pa\u00eds con m\u00e1s ingenieros\u00a0per capita<\/i>\u00a0laboral del mundo.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2.- Conexi\u00f3n universidad-empresa<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A la hora de hablar del tejido empresarial en Espa\u00f1a, la mayor\u00eda de los expertos suelen coincidir en una m\u00e1xima que acaba siendo recurrente: hay\u00a0una desconexi\u00f3n entre el mundo universitario y el empresarial<\/strong>; las universidades no ense\u00f1an los conocimientos o habilidades que los estudiantes tendr\u00e1n que aplicar en sus empresas cuando se incorporen al mundo laboral. No es una queja \u00fanica de Espa\u00f1a, se trata de algo com\u00fan a muchos pa\u00edses, pero hay zonas con mayor y menor desconexi\u00f3n.<\/p>\n

En Israel, sin embargo, la conexi\u00f3n entre los dos mundos es total gracias a los llamados Centros de Transferencia Tecnol\u00f3gica, una iniciativa cuyo m\u00e1ximo objetivo pasa por \u201cayudar a los investigadores a que puedan desarrollar comercialmente sus ideas\u00a0<\/strong>para que la investigaci\u00f3n no se quede en los laboratorios ni en las bibliotecas, sino que esa innovaci\u00f3n se traduzca en ideas comerciales, en empresas\u201d, seg\u00fan L\u00f3pez Vi\u00f1uela.<\/p>\n

En Espa\u00f1a hay una desconexi\u00f3n entre el mundo universitario y el empresarial\u201d<\/h2>\n

El enfoque, en principio, no puede ser m\u00e1s motivador: el ingeniero o cient\u00edfico que se dedique a la investigaci\u00f3n no s\u00f3lo lo har\u00e1 por la divulgaci\u00f3n en s\u00ed misma, sino que adem\u00e1s tendr\u00e1 un aliciente a\u00f1adido: el de\u00a0buscar (y encontrar) una salida comercial a sus investigaciones\u00a0<\/strong>y formar un proyecto empresarial a partir de ello.<\/p>\n

Las cifras dan buena muestra de ello: seg\u00fan\u00a0un estudio del World Economic Forum,\u00a0Israel produce 249,2 patentes o inventos por cada mill\u00f3n de habitantes cada a\u00f1o<\/strong>, tan s\u00f3lo por detr\u00e1s de Taiw\u00e1n, Jap\u00f3n y Estados Unidos. Espa\u00f1a, por su parte, se queda en el puesto 28 con apenas 9,1 patentes anuales por cada mill\u00f3n de habitantes.<\/p>\n