Apr 27, 2012
Apr 5, 2012
Capital Nature
Our visit to Capital Nature took place during our first day of visits in Tel Aviv. At the presentation, chairs and space were in short supply and we held off hunger with some well deserved snacks. The presentation covered a brief history of Capital Nature and an overview of their initiatives including funding renewable energy start-ups, funding academic research and running a test facility next to Kibbutz Ketura called Experimentum, which we would later visit.
Mar 28, 2012
NYT Article - co-op votes on boycotting Israeli foods
Check out this interesting turn of events at the Park Slope Food Co-op (esp. interesting given that the area has a large Jewish population):
Mar 25, 2012
Yale SOM meets President Shimon Peres
On our second-to-last night of the International Experience, we met with Israeli President and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shimon Peres at his house in Jerusalem, along with students from Harvard's Kennedy School and NYU Stern School of Business. Prompted by a question from Yale's own C.J. Lemky, President Peres spoke to the group about the role of business in the peace process.
Also discussed was the suitability of sanctions on Iran in response to their nuclear program. In contrast to the message the American Congress and media had just received from Prime Minister Netanyahu, President Peres stressed the importance of exhausting all diplomatic possibilities before turning to military options.
Creating a community of innovation - Rotem
The visit to Rotem was a unique opportunity to look at how government can work with private sector to foster innovation. It is a tricky job because incentives have to be pitched perfectly. Too much financial aid and people with non-viable businesses will try to be a part of this community and waste general resources. Too little aid, and you lose the entrepreneurs with the good ideas.
In particular, Rotem was focused on hi-tech renewable energy technologies. Unlike internet and software innovations, these require extremely long incu
bation periods and capital investment. In many cases, beta testing can go on for several years. That is a huge commitment and one that is difficult for individual entrepreneurs to take on - unless someone like Rotem comes along to help.
A theme that kept appearing in this trip was the fact that Israel is committed to energy independence (or as much of it as they can have). And this was clearly seen through organizations like Rotem which are government owned - but run like private sector companies. As the US government looks to boost jobs with innovation and entrepreneurship - I think there are many useful insights from case studies like Rotem on how to be helpful without interfering.
Read more: http://www.h-v.co.il/
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