1. Introduction
Tel Aviv is the economic, technological and innovative capital of Israel, as well as the city with the most entrepreneurs per capita around the world. It is known as the "innovation leader in Europe and Asia" and the "start-up Mecca second only to Silicon Valley", with the Wall Street Journal describing it as the "never-ending innovation city". Tel Aviv covers an area of 51.76 square kilometers and has a population of about 400,000. Tel Aviv has a developed information and communication industry, covering big data, the Internet of Things and other fields. It has a complete industrial chain from electronic components to final equipment and services, and its overall industrial strength ranks at the forefront of the world. Tel Aviv is also a global leader in new energy, life technology, fintech, security and high-tech agriculture.
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2. Development of Innovation
(1) Innovative Development Strategies of Israel and Tel Aviv
A. Israel’s “trinity” mode of technological and innovative development: Israel's scientific and technological innovation has always adhered to the three-in-one development mode of "government support, enterprise main body and international cooperation". First, the government strongly supports the development of science and education. The proportion of investment in education in Israel's GDP has been kept at around 10% for a long time. More than 75% of the population has received over 12 years of education, which has cultivated a large number of high-quality talents for scientific and technological innovation. Israel has a sound science and technology management system. 13 departments, including the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Economy and Industry, jointly form a national science and technology decision-making system to promote science and technology work throughout the country. Israel implements a strict intellectual product protection system and protects intellectual property rights through laws and regulations such as the Property Law, the Trademark Ordinance and the Copyright Law. Second, Israel adheres to the dominant position of enterprise innovation. On the one hand, enterprises raise their innovation funds and have complete property rights to the innovation results that can be disposed of according to their wishes. On the other hand, innovative enterprises are mainly SMEs, and innovation always adheres to market orientation. Of Israel's nearly 4,000 high-tech firms, fewer than 10 have assets of more than $1 billion, most of which are SMEs. The government mainly supports basic science and generic technology research, the establishment of science and technology industrial parks to provide basic theories and a favorable environment for enterprises' R&D and innovation activities. Third, Israel attaches great importance to international R&D cooperation. Israel actively engages in international cooperation and has reached scientific and technological cooperation agreements with some important innovative countries and international organizations, such as the European Union, the United States, Japan, OECD states, UNESCO. Israel participates in 29 international and inter-state industrial R&D activities, carrying out project cooperation with a large number of countries and regions. Many multinational corporations, such as Microsoft, IBM and Intel, have invested in establishing R&D centers in Israel, further promoting international scientific and technological cooperation in Israel.
B. Innovative development strategies of Tel Aviv: In addition to the macro factors of scientific and technological innovation in Israel, Tel Aviv's success cannot be separated from encouraging entrepreneurship for independent scientific and technological innovation, targeting the global market demand for scientific and technological innovation, and focusing on the design architecture of innovative products. Its specific strategies can be divided into four aspects: First, Tel Aviv makes good use of the policy foundation of the state to support the construction of innovation ecology, and encourages foreigners to set up innovative enterprises in Tel Aviv by using the preferential policy of "innovation visa" of the Israeli government. Second, a package of preferential policies for start-ups, including a more than 60 percent reduction in municipal tax for innovative software developers, free start-up advice and training, and low-cost shared office space. Second, a package of preferential policies for start-ups, including a more than 60 percent reduction in municipal tax for innovative software developers, free start-up advice and training, and low-cost shared office space. Second, Second, Tel Aviv has adopted a package of preferential policies for start-ups, including a more than 60% reduction of municipal tax for innovative software development companies, free start-up consulting and training, and low-cost shared office space. Third, to enhance Tel Aviv's international influence through important events such as the Tel Aviv Innovation Festival and global media communication platforms, creating opportunities for exchanges and cooperation with the international innovation ecosystem. Fourth, Tel Aviv attaches importance to the bottom-up innovative development mode and establishes a detailed database of enterprise development to timely meet the financing needs of start-ups.
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(2) Subjects of Innovative Development
A. Governments: In 2016, the Israeli Government established the Israel Innovation Authority in Tel Aviv based on the Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS) in the Ministry of Economy and Industry. It is a government department responsible for allocating Israeli innovation resources and providing infrastructure and framework systems for the entire knowledge industry. advises the government and Knesset committees on policies related to science and technology innovation in Israel, analyzes and monitors the innovation ecosystem in Israel, and works with other departments to promote the development of the industry and economy in Israel.
B. Institutions of higher learning and research institutions： In order to meet the social demand for high-quality innovative and entrepreneurial talents, Israeli universities have introduced excellent entrepreneurship teachers, set up entrepreneurship courses, and established entrepreneurship centers connecting universities and social organizations, which are specifically responsible for the transformation and transfer of scientific research and innovation achievements of universities. Among them, Tel Aviv University is the largest comprehensive university in Israel. It has 128 faculties, 130 research institutes and 400 laboratories, and carries out more than 3,500 scientific research projects every year. It has outstanding strength in brain research, environmental research, smart city, cyber security and big data. The Weizmann Institute of Science is a world-renowned research institution with three Nobel Prize winners and three Turing Prize winners. It is a world leader in fields, like nanomaterials, cancer diagnosis and treatment, and quantum computing technology.
C. High-tech Enterprises: Israel is home to nearly 6,000 innovative technology companies, about 60 percent of which are headquartered in Tel Aviv and the vast majority have R&D centers. Israeli high-tech companies raised $8.3 billion in funding in 2019, a 30% increase over 2018 and reached another record, according to a report released by the Israel Venture Capital Research Center and law firm ZAG-S&W on Tuesday. The vast majority of financing deals are in Tel Aviv. Classified by specific technology clusters, high-tech enterprises in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, fintech have a higher financing amount.
D. Incubators: Israel formulated the incubator development program in 1991, which aims to help technology entrepreneurs transform their innovative ideas into commercial products. The government provides funds for incubators and entrepreneurship projects, and incubators provide entrepreneurs with a full range of professional services. For example, TIME Incubator, founded in 2009 and headquartered in Tel Aviv, is one of the outstanding representatives of innovative incubators in Israel. It has been rated as an excellent incubator in Israel for three consecutive years by the Office of the Chief Scientist in Israel. Its main service targets are technology startups in four major fields, including telecommunications, Internet, media and entertainment.
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