Tech Giants Take a Byte of the Startup Nation :Szymon Pawica
http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/tech-giants-take-a-byte-of-the-startup-nation/#ixzz3WEcTfyz8
A few months ago, Apple CEO Tim Cook arrived in Israel to inaugurate Apple’s Herzlia R&D center. Many speculate that the primary motivation for this move was to capitalize on Israel’s long history and prowess in micro-chip design, but there also seem to be inextricable cultural factors Apple and other companies hope to capitalize on.
While Cook was in Israel, Israeli President Rivlin emphasized the importance of companies like Apple and innovators like Apple Vice-President for hardware technology Johny Srouji, an Israeli Arab, and their role in making Israel a vibrant, successful, and inclusive state.
Tim Cook announced several months ago that he was gay, and often touts Apple’s commitment to highlighting the diversity of their staff. Israel is also increasing its efforts to create a more diverse workforce, including recently allocating 10 million NIS (approx $2.5 million USD) to “provid[ing] training and job-placement services for academics from the Arab, Druze, and Circassian communities,” and has also recently undertaken efforts to increase the participation of women and the ultra-orthodox in the workforce.
Major technological companies capitalizing on Israel’s knack for innovation and diverse makeup is nothing new: Intel Israel, for example, was founded in 1974 and now employs more than 7,800 people. The top Intel processors have been developed in Haifa and Yakum for years. Apart from their R&D center, Intel has opened Computational Intelligence Institute, which is helping to realize many of the Ministry of Education’s strategic programs. “Intel Israel was responsible for designing the chip in the first IBM personal computers, the first Pentium chips, and a new architecture that analysts agree saved Intel…” “In the southern Israeli town of Qiryat Gat, Intel built a $3.5 billion plant where Israelis designed chips with transistors so small that thirty million of them can fit on the head of pin.” [1]
Google also boasts 2 R&D centers in Israel. Google first opened its office in Israel in 2006. Live results, person finder application, Google Suggest, Digital Dead Sea Scrolls Project, Google Insights for search, In-page analytics and interactive videos on YouTube were all developed in Israel.
“Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer has called Microsoft “an Israeli company as much as an American company” because of the size and centrality of its Israeli teams.” [1] Steve Ballmer said, “Microsoft employs more workers per capita in Israel than anywhere else on earth.” [1]
“Advanced Technology Labs Israel, established in 2011 in Herzliya, Israel, built on its original R&D operation in Israel, which was founded in 1991, and tapping into Israel’s thriving high-tech community. The Israel R&D Center is situated in two main locations—in Herzliya, heartland of Israel’s high tech industry, and in Matam, Haifa, home to many graduates of the Technion, Israel’s leading technology university. It is headed by Adi Diamant. Advanced Technology Labs Israel is a unique group of engineers, researchers, and user experience (UX) designers who focus on providing new ways to interact, explore, and enhance the online experience. The lab works with product and research teams to ideate, develop, and implement new technologies and solutions for online services, computer vision, natural user interfaces, and social data mining.”
In the words of Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, “the range of innovative things that Israel is doing is remarkable. There is such a wide scope of exciting things going on here. Israel is a start-up center, and there is always something to challenge us here, or one that we can acquire.” The success of Apple’s Herzliya center remains to be seen, but the vast interest Western tech companies are exhibiting in partnering with Israeli organizations and making the most of the diverse talent base found therein is not going away anytime soon.
This article was written and edited by TAMID at NYU’s equity research group comprised of Szymon Pawica, Deena Sedighim, and Laura Adkins. For more information on TAMID at NYU, visit their site.
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