I agree that Israel has grown technologically and if there is an increase in the investments it will definitely increase the production rate and even it can come up with its own manufacturing units. Even Barcelona is encouraging the industries to raise their production.
I think one of the factors behind the development and success of Silicon Valley is universities like MIT, Harvard and Stanford which supply the human capital required to run the technology firms. If the success of Silicon Valley has to be replicated at another place, the country or region needs to be equipped with world-class universities which train the future entrepreneurs and technology leaders.
You need to add - extremely talented students, highly qualified college professors, well funded programs, and what you have is a high-tech region. That was Carlifornia and that is present day Isreal. Military discipline not withstanding, the Isrealis live in a harsh eographic environment and have nutured young fresh minds to tackle every obstacle they came across. The results are high-tech innovations and high powered military products. That is the success story of their "silicon valley" in the desert.
Jennifer, creating another Silicon Valley would need a unique combination of entrepreneurship, funding and optimism. I remember the quote from movie Facbook that one million is not cool...what's cools is one billion. I think the spirit of an innovative idea and building a billion dollar company is the strength of SV.
Israel is known to consumers of high-end mission-critical (everyone knows what an Uzi is) and lab equipment. Silicon Valley-type hubs exist when there is one or more world-class universities where innovation is fostered with a view to practical applications. Israel can certainly claim to adhere to a scholarly tradition. Algebra may have been invented by the Arabs, but they may have been spoiled by sitting on giant billion-barrel-per-day oil fields.
Thanks, everyone, for weighing in. You're right in saying that names of companies in Israel or other developing tech hubs may not immediately roll off the tongue as quickly as those in Appletino, as Mario8a redubbed Cupertino. FWIW, I also had to come to speed on who's who. Here's a list of companies from Israel on NASDAQ. The list is largely stacked with telecom and computer communications equpiment, pharmaceutical, and semiconductor companies.
But just because the names don't come straight to mind doesn't mean the technology being developed there should be too readily dismissed. Military and telecom probably will be strong electronics sectors for the region in the coming years. Think about it for a moment - What did the world know about Google in 1996 or Apple in 1976 or HP in 1939? Um, not much. It took time for those names to become household names and respected brands.
Siicon Valley may always be the iconic tech hub model. It's where a extremely talented and highly qualified labor pool, perhaps serendipitously, began clustering to create great products. But it would be naïve to think in 20 or 30 years it will be the only hub, or for that matter the most important one.
I do not have any intelligence to predict the future top10 silicon vallleys, but I strongly belive Israel will be one of them. I've heard of their military electronics for a long while and came across many telecom soc companies coming from Israel.
I knew that the tech sector was growing rapidly in Israel, but I did not know the numbers. For a country of that size, who continually has political unrest with its neighbors, I had no idea that their numbers rivaled only the U.S. I'm sure some of it has to do with venture capitalists from the U.S. taking part in this growth. I would be curious to see a top ten list compiled on the next silicon valley. I'm sure there are going to be a few surprising results.
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Thailand Stages a Comeback Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Euro-Crisis: What It Means for High-Tech Firms Join EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo and Contributing Editor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a Live Chat on high-tech and Europe's economic difficulties.
Microsoft Surface: Potential Winners & Losers What are the implications for the electronics industry supply chain of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to launch its own tablet PC? Join industry veteran and EE Times' systems and OEM expert Rick Merritt on Tuesday, July 3, at 12:00 pm EDT for a Live Chat on this subject.
Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
While no one really can accurately predict the future, we can take guidance from another Drucker saying which is the best way to predict the future is to create it.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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