Did you know that ICQ, the first instant messaging site and precursor of Facebook, was Israeli? Or that the first USB flash drive prototype, the San Disk, was also invented in Israel, as well as, for example, Indigo, the first digital printer then purchased by the giant Hewlett Packard, or Netafim, the first automatic irrigation system?
It is right there, on the indefinable border between Europe and Asia, that the new Silicon Valley rises, even if as Professor Manuel Trajtenberg himself, head of the Israeli training system and guest at the Ambrosetti Technology Forum in Castelbrando, in Veneto, is keen to point out. “We don't follow any model, we propose our own”. A more than successful model, the first in the world for the percentage of GDP invested in innovation (4,3%, ahead of 3,8% in Finland and 2% of the EU-27 average) which has led to 60 high-tech companies with the star of David to be listed on the Nasdaq in New York, making Israel the first country in the world – besides the USA – represented in the most important list of the technology market.
What are the ingredients of what prof. Trajtenberg, while rejecting comparisons, defines a “Silicon Miracle”? As always, we start from the base, i.e. from research and universities: the fifth country in the world in terms of the patents/population ratio (72 per thousand inhabitants in 2010, Japan 118, Italy 12), in Israel most of the patents arrive precisely from the world of scientific research, as thanks to the huge funds allocated, the country excels in the collaboration between universities and industry in R&D.
Certainly, however, ideas and competence are not enough: it takes an entrepreneurial spirit, an aptitude for risk that Trajtenberg defines as a “can do it attitude”. It can be done, but it doesn't necessarily have to be done in a hurry: banning the "everything and now", the strategy of the Israeli model is based on a farsighted vision and patience, as well as on a knowledge that allows you to work calmly. And as well as, of course, funds: if the State takes care of it at the beginning, then a good dose of venture capitalism is needed. In 2010, according to official Evca Yearbook data, in Israel almost 0,25% of GDP was allocated by venture capital to innovative startups. Small amount? In Italy it borders on 0%, in all the countries of the world it is below 0,1 and the USA itself is less than 0,2%.
Upstream, as mentioned, there is the public system, the most involved on the planet in supporting creatives even individually: the budget to support the initiatives of the 24 technology incubators is between 400 and 700 thousand dollars each for 2 years, of which the 85% in the form of a bonus in case of success. Annual support for R&D projects approaches $400 million, which equates to over a thousand projects funded each year (1018 in 2011, 1233 in 2009).
The push given to hi-tech produces a final result that can be summarized in two data: the first is that this type of business grows 5 times faster than the rest of the Israeli economy, which however apparently benefits entirely from it. Imagine a place, geographically very far from Silicon Valley, where, in contrast with nearby Europe, there are even more companies that are born than those that close. Above all the innovative ones: in 2012, the worst year of the crisis so far recorded, only 140 had to close their doors, while another 350 were founded. From 2007 to today, a total of 3.670 have been created.
