According to the Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) for 2011-2012 published by the World Economic Forum’s Centre for Global Competitiveness and Performance, Israel’s main strengths remain its “world-class” capacity for innovation, derived from the presence of “the world’s best research institutions” and their collaborations with the business sector, and the high number of patents. Also, the report mentions Israel’s favorable financial environment, particularly the solid availability of venture capital, which has “further contributed to making Israel an innovation powerhouse”. According to the report, these elements have become stronger in the past year.
The report notes that increased budgetary discipline with a view to reducing debt levels would help the country maintain stability and support economic growth going into the future.
Looking at the 21 countries ranked ahead of Israel, we’re in pretty good company, with our future competition being Switzerland (ranked number 1), the United States and Germany (5th and 6th respectively) and Japan at ninth place. You can see the full rankings here.
Israel’s main advantages according to the current report are:
Quality of scientific research institutions
Venture capital availability (Ranked 2nd in the world!)
Utility patents per million population (Ranked 4th in the world)
Life expectancy
Strength of investor protection
Government procurement of advanced tech product
Capacity for innovation (Ranked 6th in the world)
Firm-level technology absorption
University-industry collaboration in R&D
Company spending on R&D
Nature of competitive advantage
Legal rights index
Availability of scientists and engineers
About the Global Competitiveness Report (WCR) by the World Economic Forum (WEF):
The World Economic Forum’s Centre for Global Competitiveness and Performance is publishing the Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) every year. It is considered the most comprehensive and authoritative assessment of the comparative strengths and weaknesses of national economies, used by governments, academics and business leaders.
