Four months ago, with great fanfare, the Ministry of Finance launched a program entitled "Relative Advantage" to promote Israeli high tech. The Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor decided that the high-tech industry was in trouble.
The predominant feeling in public discussions over the past year was that innovation was losing altitude, sources of funding were drying up, no Israeli Nokia was arising, venture capital investment was falling, the gap between Israel and overseas in this sector was closing, and less people were getting science degrees.
The government team that worked on the assistance plan headed by Ministry of Finance director general Haim Shani, the former CEO of NICE-Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: NICE; TASE:NICE) identified "danger of significant harm to the ongoing growth of the industry."
"Globes" accepted these judgments as carved in stone and investigated Israeli high-tech, the significant engine of growth of the Israeli economy, to see if the prognosis is true.
After speaking with heads of industry, checking the data, and comparing them with the golden past, "Globes" came to the surprising conclusion that Israeli entrepreneurship and innovation is alive and kicking.
There is no lack of money, and the number of Israeli start-ups per capita is still one of the highest in the world. Bank Hapoalim (LSE: 80OA; TASE: POLI) chairman Yair Seroussi told "Globes" yesterday, "Entrepreneurship and international competitiveness of a strength that there is in Israel is exceptional."
He described exactly what "Globes" found in its high tech survey. "Not in every country do you find the number of people who want to break through, create projects, set up companies, initiate, acquire, and take it to the world."
Indeed, the hunger is still huge, the entrepreneurship, the innovations, the dreams, the heights. The money is there and the results will continue to come even if it looks like the enthusiasm in the sector is beginning to fade.
There was and is danger to the existence of a vibrant high-tech industry. That is the nature of an industry that breathes and lives in a free market which is often cruel and eliminates companies that can't take the pace of technological development.
Whether we are talking about future dangers to the science infrastructure of Israel, or immediate dangers such as gradually losing inoovation, we have to say clearly: the high tech industry has no commitment to this country or another.
Intel, IBM, HP, Microsoft and Google have tens of thousands of employees here, and have bought many companies but they have no loyalty to Israel. Only countries that combine education, talent, innovation, excellence and available money can develop prosperous high tech industries.
Israel is still prosperous and we can only hope that it will continue to be prosperous. We already have known the fruits of development that influence our daily lives in medicine and in the home. Technology and biotechnology will continue to be important for business and the general population for the next generations too.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 21, 2010
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