In academia, Israel has increased investment in international collaborations in research and civilian development
Data collected by the National Council for Research and Development in the Ministry of Science and Technology and the CBS that are published today show that Israel is among the largest exporters of research and development and technology in the world. The council's data also show that in academia, Israel has increased its investment in international collaborations in research and civilian development.
In 2010, Israeli companies exported technologically intensive services, such as research and development services, license agreements on technological knowledge, patents, etc., amounting to approximately 9.5 billion dollars, a decrease of 3.4% compared to 2009, but an increase of approximately 17% compared to 2007. On the other hand, in the same year, Israel imported services of this type to the extent of only 2.5 billion dollars and reached an export surplus of 7 billion dollars. In 2009, Israel reached an export surplus of 7.4 billion dollars.
This rate of excess export of research and development services and technology is among the highest in the world: in 2008, this rate in Israel was 4.6% of GDP - higher than countries with high civilian R&D such as the United States (0.6%), Germany (1.5%) and the United Kingdom ( (1.7%). The highest technological export surplus rate in the world was registered in Ireland (14.3%).
The main exporters of R&D are foreign-controlled companies based in Israel, mainly through R&D centers in the IT and R&D services sectors. A significant part of the research and development activities of the business sector in Israel is financed from abroad through business entities abroad, foreign governments and foreign investors as well as by selling R&D abroad. In 2009, the total funding from abroad of civil research and development activities in Israel amounted to more than NIS 12 billion, with the computing services and research and development branches in Israel gathering about 92% of the total funding from abroad. Moreover, the data show that most of the financing in these industries is done by selling abroad civilian research and development carried out in Israel within the framework of foreign companies residing in the country.
Based on international comparison data for 2008, the share of research and development expenses in Israel financed by revenues from R&D sales abroad is among the highest in the world: 29%, compared to an average of 10.7% in the European Union.
"The data show that Israel is a major exporter of knowledge and technology in the world," said today the chairman of the National Council for Research and Development in the Ministry of Science and Technology Prof. Yitzhak Ben-Israel. "The meaning of the data is that, on the one hand, Israel depends on funding sources from other countries for research and development purposes, but on the other hand, research and development knowledge carried out by Israelis within the framework of foreign companies residing in Israel, is exported abroad and does not stay here."
At the same time, in 2009 Israel increased its investment in international collaborations in civilian research and development, mainly through the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Science and Technology, to the extent of nearly 360 million NIS - an increase of about 64 million NIS since 2007. - 85% of the government funding of civilian R&D in international collaborations between 2007 and 2009 was done in the European Research Framework (RFP) program. The program allows researchers from academia and industry to compete for the research budgets of the European community in a variety of scientific fields and to conduct research In collaboration with researchers in Europe.Since 2007 to date, the Israeli government has transferred about 304 million euros to the program and in the next two years plans to transfer another 216 million euros.
The investment paid off, and during these years 798 Israeli researchers and Israeli companies won grants totaling more than 500 million euros. This means that the ratio between the grants received as part of the program compared to the government's transfers to the program is 1.65 euros for every euro invested - an increase of 55.5% compared to the sixth program that was implemented in the years 2002 to 2006 - when 784 received grants for a total amount of about 204 million euros in investment government in a program of only 191 million euros.
As part of this program, the researchers are awarded the ERC grants - prestigious grants of about one million euros which are given to research that has the potential to be a breakthrough. From 2007 until today, Israel won 7% of all grants for a total amount of 210 million euros, while Israel's transfers to the framework program constituted only 1.2% of the program's funding sources.
