Lacking natural resources, size and proximity to markets, the state of Israel must rely on scientific and technological know-how for its survival and prosperity. Israel’s economic achievements, especially in high-tech sectors, were enabled through a 40-years long various directed government policy measures aimed at fostering scientific and technological progress, and nurturing highly skilled workforce and R&D capabilities. The knowledge created and developed here was successfully translated into thriving high-tech sector, aided by sophisticated financing mechanisms which were also fostered by dedicated government policies.
Despite Israel’s success in leveraging science and technology, (S&T), to generate impressive economic growth, there is a growing concern about “dual economy” problems, and the laggard traditional industries and services which do not benefit enough from the advanced technologies. Moreover, Israel is facing an intensifying competition in the global high-tech arena, on markets for goods and technologies, foreign investments, and skilled manpower. Accordingly, designing a new, comprehensive and long-term science and technology policy should be a high priority of the government. Such a policy must be based on accurate and up-to-date quantitative information on R&D, and S&T activities in Israel, including expenditures, achievements and support measures, while constantly comparing these to comparable developments in other countries.
This updated 2007 publication, second in the series “Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators in Israel: An International Comparison”, has been developed and updated in cooperation with the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, (CBS). It covers the following five core areas in R&D and S&T innovativeness, comparing Israel to several other developed countries:
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National expenditures on civilian R&D: estimates of resources invested and levels of R&D activities in Israel, distinguishing between financing and performing levels of such activities.
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Human capital in S&T: structure of workforce engaged in new technology formation and R&D, including number of students by field of study and degree granted and other characteristics.
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Scientific and technological achievements: quantitative measures of R&D and S&T activities, including number of patents, scientific publications and their citations.
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Economic impacts of R&D and S&T activities: estimates of the contribution of advanced technologies and their developments to the Israeli economy and its foreign trade.
- Technological readiness: familiarity with and access to computers and information technology, and IT infrastructures.
