With a population of only 9 million, Israel is considered one of the world’s most educated and innovative nations, as well as a tech powerhouse.
Israel continues to remain one of the most intelligent and technologically advanced nations in the world. Israelis are consistently at the forefront of education, research, entrepreneurship, and technology. Calcalist, one of Israel’s leading business newspapers, recently highlighted (in Hebrew) many of the strengths of Israel, based on international reports. Three of the strengths mentioned relate to our favorite topic of reskilling and upskilling people for tech positions in high demand.
Higher Education: Love for Learning and Obtaining Graduate Degrees
Israelis are known for their brilliant minds and passion for learning. In Israel, around half of the population aged 25-64 have a Bachelor’s degree or an even higher degree. The highly educated population puts Israel in the top 5 most educated OECD countries, among the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Norway. Only last year, 77,200 Israelis received academic degrees from higher education institutions. This indicates that the annual number of higher education graduates in Israel has increased fivefold within the last 3 decades!
Research and Development: High Investments and Entrepreneurship Push Israeli’s Startup Ecosystem
Israel’s reputation as the Start-Up Nation is not a product of luck or fate, but rather of strategic investment. Many entities, including the government and foreign companies, invest heavily in Israel, which is home to nearly 6,000 active startups. In fact, Israel has the largest number of startups per capita in the world, with 1 startup for every 1,400 people.
Israel ranks 1st among OECD countries in spending on Research and Development (R&D), and currently has 370 development centers of the largest companies in the world, such as Google, Amazon, and Paypal. According to the Israel Innovation Authority, 85% of R&D investment comes from the business sector, 12% from higher education, and 1.5% from the Israeli government.
A Creative Spirit Thrives in Technological Innovation
What’s the outcome of education and R&D in Israel? Technological innovation is the answer. According to the Bloomberg Innovation Index, Israel is the 7th most technically innovative nation in the world. Israel has managed to surpass countries such as Japan, the United States, and France. The Israeli Defense Force is a driver for technological supremacy, having to maintain Israel’s security in the region.
Together with the entrepreneurial spirit, the start-up culture of Israelis, and the abundance of R&D talent, Israeli startups managed to raise a total of US$39.1 billion over the last decade! In the first half of 2021 alone, 48 Israeli startups have IPO’ed, most with valuations of over $1 billion.
Additionally, the cities of Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem were both ranked 6th out of 150 cities as the best start-up incubators in the world by Startup Genome. Startup Genome examined leading cities in the world based on metrics like performance capability, financing, ability, market share, knowledge, and talent. Tel-Aviv has been compared to the likes of Silicon Valley, having the second highest concentration of tech companies in the world!
Israeli dedication and commitment to higher education, research prowess, and business acumen is simply admirable. Israel will continue to innovate and advance for years to come!
From Startup Nation
Eran Lasser, CEO and founder of Wawiwa Tech Training, has integrated the Israeli advantages into tech training for the last 3 decades. Already responsible for the reskilling of more than 50,000 people, Eran founded Wawiwa to continue his mission at scale.
Wawiwa bridges the global tech skills gap and shortage by partnering with universities and training centers across the world to reskill and upskill individuals to tech jobs in high demand. Wawiwa’s proprietary methodology is built on Israeli expertise and know-how and aims to position Israel not only as “the Startup Nation,” but also as “the Tech Training Nation.”
To learn more about Israel’s impressive feats, visit Calcalist’s original article (in Hebrew).
To learn how Israel’s technology know how is implemented by Wawiwa Tech Training, visit our Israel page.
