The Minister of Science and Technology said these things at an international conference for science ministers and senior officials, which opened yesterday (Monday) in Jerusalem. The conference is attended by representatives from more than 25 countries in the world, as well as scientists and heads of international scientific organizations such as the CERN particle accelerator. Among the participating countries: India, Argentina, Poland, Thailand, Bulgaria, Uganda, Singapore and the Czech Republic
"Ask Facebook and Google"
The Minister of Science and Technology, Ofir Akunis, said that this is the first conference of its kind in Jerusalem in which dozens of delegations of science ministers and deputy science ministers from all over the world are participating. "Many countries around the world now understand what Israel can do for them. This is something that many companies have known for years - that Israel is the source of innovation for them, where there is a mixture of brilliant people, knowledge and activity that paves the way. Ask Google, Microsoft, Facebook and others, who have R&D centers here that are responsible for the groundbreaking areas of these companies."
According to Akunis, "Today we are changing the world. Changing Africa, Asia, Latin America, which I visited about two months ago. This was the first time that an Israeli science minister visited Argentina and Brazil. My friend, the Minister of Science of Argentina is here after we signed a deal for scientific cooperation."
"We at the office sponsor students who compete in robotics competitions all over the world and recently a group from Dimona won first place in an international competition. Everyone has an equal opportunity today. I suggest everyone to adopt the method of promoting the periphery. Science and technology drive the world of transportation, and we have a part in that. Mobileye was purchased about a year ago by Intel for 15 billion dollars. Their office is in Jerusalem and it will remain here. They are hiring more workers. Later, Minister Aconis noted that 20% of international venture capital investments in the cyber field are in Israeli companies."
In the first discussion session of the international conference for science ministers of the Ministry of Science and Technology, "Thinking outside the box", which was held yesterday (Tuesday) with the participation of 25 science ministers and senior delegations from around the world, the author Sol Singer, author of the book "The Startup Nation": "In order to become An innovative idea for a successful idea, for a start-up, requires motivation and determination, along with creativity and risk-taking. Therefore, in my opinion, the State of Israel is not only the start-up nation of the world, but its very existence in the world is a start-up." Later, Singer referred to the trends in the world of innovation and said that the significant changes and innovations in the near future will be seen in the fields of health education and transportation. Singer specifically mentioned air transport as a solution to the plight of traffic jams and congestion on the roads and said: "The countries that will be the first to adopt health education and air transport solutions will be the most innovative countries in the world and as a result will be the leading and most advanced countries in the world and this will affect all areas of life in them."
Uri Levin is one of the founders of Wise: The passion for startups and innovation in the State of Israel is extraordinary despite the difficulties and ups and downs along the way
Uri Levin, co-founder of the Wise app, said at the conference: "The loyalty of the workers in Israel and the ability to recruit them to your dream are the added value. The passion for startups and innovation in the State of Israel is extraordinary despite the difficulties and ups and downs along the way. Building a startup is just like falling in love. You can go on many dates and think of many options until you decide who the one is and once you have decided you will do everything to get her. Build the infrastructure, characterize the challenges and difficulties and do everything to achieve it, even when your friends tell you it's not for you. You are in love and you don't listen to anyone, go with your love and your passion until the end. This passion that Israelis have to follow their dreams, in many cases completely contrary to what people will say, is unique to this place. In 2007 we were told that Wise would never work. But we were full of passion, we believed in the idea and we knew we would do it."
Facebook CEO Israel Adi Sofer Thani presented the conference attendees from around the world with a forecast that by 2020, 75 percent of the content that will be transmitted on cell phones will be video content. "We live in a world where the speed with which a product can be produced, with which messages are passed and where we can communicate is amazing. The technology allows an idea to become a final product within a few hours. The speed with which products are produced also affects the nature of the information, therefore in a short time most of the information the world will consume will be through fast videos."
Later, she also referred to the leadership model of the future that is reflected in her view of the high-tech world and which should also be applied to the political leadership in Israel and the world: "Leadership today is not necessarily the ability to make decisions, but the ability to listen. The ability to gather around you a diverse group of young people who will challenge you and your job is to listen to them. Allow the youngest and most inexperienced person in the room to stand up and say - hey, you're wrong. Leaders who do not know how to operate in such an environment will become irrelevant."
