Israel Announces Plan to Speed Academic Knowledge Into High Tech

Israel’s Finance Ministry, the Council of University Heads and the Planning and Budgeting Committee announced a reform on Monday aimed at strengthening ties between academia and the country’s high tech and technology industries. The plan was developed jointly and is intended to give entrepreneurs more certainty, reduce bureaucracy and better harness Israel’s scientific potential for economic growth.

The reform includes four main steps. First, universities will adopt common, transparent principles for commercializing knowledge, so startups and companies can work through faster, more consistent procedures. Second, a pilot program will allow universities to commercialize research through external specialist firms, not only their internal commercialization companies.

In addition, a joint team will be set up to address tax and regulatory barriers that currently slow knowledge commercialization deals. The Innovation Authority will also promote a dedicated track to expand the transfer of knowledge from academia to industry and increase its contribution to Israeli high tech growth.

Budget Director General Mahran Frozner said higher education is critical to Israel’s growth and to maintaining its global lead in deep tech, especially as artificial intelligence changes the field. Prof. Ami Moyal, chair of the Planning and Budgeting Committee, called universities’ research one of Israel’s key strategic assets. Prof. Daniel Haimovich, president of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, said the new reform creates, for the first time, a fast, uniform and direct route from the lab to the global market. Innovation Authority CEO Dror Bin, who is due to leave his post but remains in a transition period, said more knowledge, technologies and discoveries must reach industry to create economic and social value.