Beersheva for cyber, Galilee for functional food
Margalit explains that the new initiative is the next step in his vision to develop seven “regions of excellence” in economically underserved parts of Israel. Each one has a different focus.
He’s already proven the concept in Jerusalem and Beersheva.
In Israel’s capital city, it took the form of a business, social and cultural hub surrounding JVP headquarters, including JVP Media Quarter, The First Station, Zappa nightclub and Bakehila-JVP Community.
In Beersheva, the focus was making the unofficial capital of the Negev into a global cybersecurity innovation center. The nonprofit CyberSpark Industry Initiative, based in the new Advanced Technologies Park in Beersheva, is a joint venture of EMC, JVP Venture Capital Fund and Ben-Gurion University’s technology transfer company.
“Just as we created an incentive package to bring multinationals like EMC, Cisco and Oracle to Beersheva through CyberSpark and now have 2,000 employees there in cyber-tech, we hope to bring multinationals such as Cargill, PepsiCo, GlaxoSmithKline, Abbott and others to the Galilee for food and therapeutic substances that they can create together,” says Margalit.
The unique Israeli ecosystem is reflected in the initiative to establish CyberSpark, the Israeli cyber innovation arena in Be’er-Sheva, integrating cyber security interests in one physical location, including:
- Leading cyber security companies from around the world;
- investors and startup incubators;
- a breakthrough academic research center in the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev;
- an educational and training program specializing in cyber security;
- a Computer Emergency Response Teams (national and governmental); and,
- elite technology units of the Israeli Defense Forces operating in this field.
Many notable companies, such as IBM, EMC, Deutsche Telekom and Lockheed Martin, have already chosen to establish centers at CyberSpark. Various government bodies are coordinating joint efforts to advance the CyberSpark initiative, including the provision of tax incentives as well as reduced costs for foreign companies planning to operate R&D or service facilities, which will provide employment opportunities there.
Together, these diverse factors form a unique innovation ecosystem, open to companies and entities from all over the world, creating an ideal work environment for companies in the cyber security field, enabling foreign companies to benefit from Israel’s assets, and encouraging synergy between all the key players in close geographic proximity.
Israel’s leading role in medical-device, biotechnology and agricultural innovation is now expanding to the emerging science of functional foods.
A new collaboration between Rutgers University in New Jersey and Tel-Hai College in Israel’s Galilee region will focus on formulating advanced edibles to tackle obesity and to manage diabetes, food allergies and other nutrition-related issues spiking to epidemic proportions in developed countries.
The New Jersey-Israel Healthy, Functional and Medical Foods Alliance will support scientific research, technology commercialization, startup incubation and “a world-class business cluster for the development of the healthy, functional and medical foods industry” in both Israel and New Jersey, according to a memorandum of understanding signed on September 18 at the Rutgers Food Innovation Center, a business incubation and economic development program.
“Functional foods” are defined as having a health benefit beyond basic nutrition, while “medical foods” are meant to be consumed or administered under a physician’s care. The related field of botanical drugs, also to be explored through the academic and business exchange, consists of vegetable, plant, plant algae or fungi to provide health and medical benefits.
Many Israeli companies are involved in food-tech but not in a dedicated hub.
“This could be an area with international recognition,” says Erel Margalit, who spearheaded the alliance as a member of the Israeli Knesset’s Economic Development Taskforce and a member of the nonprofit foundation Israel Initiative 2020. Margalit also founded Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP) and was its managing partner from 1993 until 2011, when he entered politics.
“This is an amazing new frontier. If I were still running JVP I’d make a major fund around functional and medical foods, and I hope others will do so,” said Margalit, speaking with ISRAEL21c from Boston, where he was meeting with potential investors in the public-private partnership.
“Israel’s high-tech expertise was instrumental in the communications, big enterprise and medical equipment era, and it’s about time we put this expertise to work in one of the biggest themes that the high-tech community needs to address worldwide: food and health.”
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