Technology and Research are key assets of the Israeli model

Israeli leaders have always readily embraced new technologies and developments, viewing technology as the driving force behind innovation and a foundation upon which to build a strong economy. Israel's technological success can be mainly attributed to the presence of some 50,000 high-quality engineers and scientists. Close to 10% are involved in industrial research and development. Every year, thousands of graduates from seven Israeli universities are joining them and also building relationships with graduates of Harvard and MIT. ^[8] The direct consequence of this success is that more than 150 foreign firms have invested in R&D in Israel and more and more Israeli companies are being quoted on foreign stock exchanges, particularly on the NYSE.

By 1990, Israeli companies had filed hundreds of patents in the United States. Israel is ranked as the fifteenth most important country from this point of view. The number of patents filed by Israeli universities is one of the signs of the strong synergies between industry and academia in Israel. Universities are the most significant technology patent holders in Israel as well as abroad, and their participation on this level exceeds most higher education systems in other countries . Due to high R&D spending, Israeli universities register twice as many patents as their American counterparts and nine times more than Canadian universities.

Israel's advanced skill base is also reflected in the high proportion of scientific publications per inhabitants. Relative to the size of the labor force, Israel has by far the largest number of publishing authors in the natural sciences, engineering, agriculture, and medicine. Israel is rated among the top 20 countries for technology publications in the world. ^[9]