Israeli Tech Communities Serve as Gateway to Local Industry

With a dense, relatively small population and non-formal open culture, Israel has sprouted hundreds such communities, writes Yoav Adler, a director at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Yoav Adler 11:5809.05.18

TAGS:

The hyper-evolution of technology and the need for constant change requires a joint effort. It is virtually impossible to make it alone. Entrepreneurial communities are created to bridge that gap, and to establish a new state of mind for today's entrepreneurs: we are not alone. With a dense, relatively small population and non-formal open culture, Israel has sprouted hundreds such communities.

For daily updates, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here.

Over 150 startup communities, with over 250 community managers currently operate in Israel, estimated Oren Simanian, the founder of the entrepreneurship center at The Tel Aviv University. Mr. Simanian was speaking at a startup communities summit held in Tel Aviv in April.

Yoav Adler. Photo: Kfir Sivan

Israeli tech communities serve as meeting points for exchange of knowledge and cooperation. As Israeli innovation and entrepreneurship increasingly become a gateway to the country, local innovation-focused communities are becoming valuable partners for embassies abroad to advance tech partnerships, from Paris to Tokyo.

In fact, many of these communities have been created to answer the demand coming from Israeli diplomats and financial attaches channeling the requests of the governments and businesses they meet overseas.

The modern-day diplomat serves as a community manager both online and in the real world. Israeli diplomats serve as nodes that connect overseas business hubs with the Israeli innovation ecosystem.

21st-century diplomacy requires diplomats to become innovative and take on new roles. Yuval Rotem, director general of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told me in a recent conversation. "Community creation and management are one of these new roles," he said.