ESIS Extension / Israel / IS Promotional Activities / Summary Report (1999

February 2001

Israel
Summary Report (1999 - 2000)

1. Overview

The last two years, 1999 and 2000 were a period of extraordinary developments in the way of the transformation of Israel into an Information Society. However the promotional activities surveyed in our ESIS reports built up on processes and infrastructures established much earlier.

Israel spends proportionally more on research and development than all other industrialized countries except Sweden and Japan, according to figures released by the Central Bureau of Statistics at the end of March 2000. Israel was tied with Finland for third place, with an expenditure of 2.8 percent of GDP in 1997. This compares to 3.7 percent in Sweden and 2.9 percent in Japan. In 1999 national spending on R & D reached NIS 14.1 billion or 3.5 of the GDP. Two thirds of the civilian R & D is carried out by the private sector and the remaining at the universities, government organisations and other non-profit institutions.

The defense establishment is responsible for part of the R&D activity that also has a significant impact on civilian applications. A considerable number of Israeli companies, the most notable perhaps being Checkpoint, developed on the basis of knowledge and experience acquired from military applications.

Government support for industrial R&D began in 1968 with the establishment of the Chief Scientist’s Office as an arm of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. In 1985 the Law for the Encouragement of Industrial Research and Development was enacted, and defined the government’s policy. The Office is entitled to subsidize up to 50% of an existing company’s R&D expenses and up to 66% of start-up’s R&D expenses. In 1999 the Office of the Chief Scientist provided $428 million in subsidies for R&D .

The proportion to GDP of national spending on education amounts to 9.1% compared with 6.1% in the OECD countries. Israel has the highest proportion of engineers and scientists among its population – 135 per 10,000 residents. The USA is in second place with 85 and Japan in third place with 75. Israel has the world’s highest proportion of residents holding science doctorates at 15 per 10,000 residents. 35% of the population aged 15 and over in Israel have over 13 years of education. Some 22% have studied in an academic institute. 21% of university students who graduated in 1998 obtained a first degree in computer sciences, mathematics, engineering or architecture.

The percentage of academic graduates to the total population has risen considerably during recent years, from 8.6% in 1990 to 12.7% in 1998. The increase partly resulted from the wave of immigration from the former Soviet Union at the beginning of the 1990’s, which included a high proportion of graduates and professionals. (See: Data from High Tech in Israel – Status Report http://bankhapoalim.netvision.net.il/national/israel/focus72000.pdf )

These background factors may provide a partial explanation to the huge input of risk capital flowing to Israel – in 1999 it reached a 1,014 million dollars ( 577 million through foreign registered Funds; 436 through Israeli registered Risk Capital Funds) and in the year 2000 3,106 million dollars ( 1,833 million through foreign registered Funds; and 1,273 through Israeli registered Funds). These funds invested first and foremost in Communications (40%); Internet (30%); Software (16%); Life Sciences (8%) and 6% in other technologies. (Haaretz, 10.1.2001, C7).

One of the economic results is the rise of the sales and exports of the electronics and software industry. In the year 2000 they rised by 50% - the export volume reaching 13,000 million dollars and the total sales 15,000 million dollars. The most dramatic change was in electronics components sector which rised 150% to 2,700 million dollars. A billion dollars from the growth is explained by the new Intel plant in Kyriat Gat and another 500 million dollars by Vishay. The exports of communications equipment, industrial medical components and software grew by 40-50% from 1999. 38% of the Electronics exports are to North America; 37% to Europe; 20% to Asia and 5% to the remaining world. (Ami Erel, Chairman of the Israel Association of Electronics and Information Industry – Haaretz, 4.1.2001, C3).

The process of re-regulation and liberalisation of the telecommunications market reached its climax in 2000 with the opening of the inland telecommunications market to competition. The Ministry of Communications published the regulations for awarding general telecommunications licenses in 4.9.2000 thus finally opening this market to competition. This process created a friendly environment for Information Society developments. Some indexes express these consequences:

The deep penetration of cellular telephony in the country. Latest data indicate that there are 4,170 million cellular telephone subscribers in Israel; for a total population of 6,315 million, a penetration rate of more than 66% (Haaretz, 8.1.2001, C1). This does not include the business wireless network MIRS which is seeking to a cellular telephony license from the Ministry of Communication. Other significant indicators are the 54% penetration of Personal Computers in Israeli homes and a level of 32% penetration for Internet connection at households and 60% in businesses (see: Telecommunications in Israel 2001, Ministry of Communications, State of Israel http://www.moc.gov.il/new/documents/telecom_in_israel_11.00.pdf ).

1.1. Number of Internet users in Israel reaches 1.1 Million

David Shedmon, the General Director of the Teleseker Corporation announced that from the data obtained by omnibus surveys since the end of 1999 the number of Internet users is 1.1 million. Among the adult population, 18 years old and more, the rate is 26% of users; in the age bracket of 13-18 the rate is 50%. From the Telesker Internet Monitor (TIM) survey held in June 2000, 88% of the users reach the Internet from their homes while 12% reach it only from places like the school and the workplace (sample 1,007 respondents aged 13 or more among the Jewish population). Most of them (29%) are new users (last 12 months) and only 12% are veteran users (more than 3 years).

The survey points out also that 32% of the households in Israel are connected to the Internet. Most users (49%) use it up to 4 hours a week; 29% from 4 to 10 hours a week; and 22% more than 10 hours. (Haaretz, June 21 2000, page C2).

1.2. 86% of Youngsters aged 12-17 report having a computer at home

A survey by the TGI Institute jointly owned by Gallup Israel and Teleseker among a representative sample of 2,160 respondents representing a population of 495 thousand jewish youngsters aged 12-17 years old found that 86% of them reported having a computer at home. There are some gender differences as 89% of the boys and 84% of the girls so reported; also 60% of the boys against 50% of the girls said they were connected to the Internet.

The survey also checked the newspaper reading habits of the youngsters and found that during the week 48% read Yedioth Aharonot; 31% Maariv and 5% Haaretz. At weekends 67% read Yedioth Aharonot; 44% Maariv; and 8% Haaretz. Haaretz, 11.8.2000, C4.

Among the initiatives related to the promotion of the Information Society in Israel we may distinguish between those based on governmental institutions; those that rise from the strong Civil Society sector in Israel and those related to business development.

2. Organisational Awareness Aspects

The Parliament has been a pioneer in the establishment of a rich information service offering information to citizens and access to its members. The work of the committee on "Preparation of Israel for the Information Age" has been critical in the evolution of the IS in Israel (Eitan Committee).

The Judiciary System through the Supreme Court of Justice evolved a sophisticated system allowing direct access to its jurisprudence through its Web site; the leadership of the Court's Presidents served as models for the introduction of IT in all levels of the system.

In Israel the Ministry of Finance has the strongest leverage vis à vis every other Ministry as it controls budget disbursement through its own officers at the different Ministries. The IT Policy Group established at the Ministry and the TEHILA (Internet at the service of the Israeli Government) has had a great impact in the creation of the adequate awareness at the government level. Training of government officers; supplementary budgets for demonstration projects at the different Ministries; documents dealing with issues of access, privacy, encryption, copyrights; guidelines for tenders in the IT area; a secure servers farm and more were some of tools used.

HILA - Preparation of Israel for Information Age is the team established in the P.M. Office for the promotion of IS in Israel the main results of its work so far having been the establishment of the Governmental Portal, starting the Computer for every Child program and establishing an IT prize.

The Ministry of Science hosts the National Committee for IT Infrastructures. The committee developed a program for demonstration projects in the Super Highway of Information, some of them having had a strong impact and demonstrated the feasibility and problems that should be circumvented when offering free information for citizens. Other projects injected funds into initiatives of community networking, distance education, GIS and statistical information, digital libraries, developing harvesting and search engines in Hebrew and more. New calls are being issued by the Ministry with special attention put into Hebrew support issues and the Internet II / New Generation Internet projects.

The Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports since 1993 was involved in an ambitious programs for computerization of the school system; this program started its second phase in 1999 and there is a strong program for training and pedagogical development of IS programs. National networks are being established for administrative and pedagogical purposes (Kishurim).

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs pioneered the use of Internet for information distribution purposes serving as a paradigmatic example for USIS. (see: http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il )The Ministry of Communications in addition to its strategic role in setting the development and regulatory framework is one of the best examples of providing complete information on its activities to citizens through its Web (see: http://www.moc.gov.il ).

Electronic Commerce: The director general of the Ministry of Trade and Industry established a joint committee with the Israel Industry Association for setting policy guidelines concerning electronic commerce in Israel. The committee was established last March 2000.

Local Authorities play a role in financing large national education projects related to IS - the computerization program of the educational system and the establishment of national pedagogical and administrative networks. Some of the municipalities have established impressive information services for their citizens; Jerusalem leads in the sophistication and comprehensiveness of its services. Lately, web sites for almost all the local authorities in Israel were established by the Israel Local Authorities Association. The National Lottery, owned by the Local Authorities has had an important role financing the computerization of the educational system as well as with its own initiatives like the project being planned for a National Digital Library.

2.1 The Press and other Mass Media

The press in Israel, the radio and the different TV channels have had a very important role in setting IS issues as an integral part of the national culture. Every major national newspaper has a section dedicated to the Internet and/or a weekly supplement totally dedicated to IS issues. There are radio programs like Inter-Bet in the main national radio channel; TV programs for youth like Zombit and many other initiatives. Another aspect of the role of the press is a process of convergence - many radio and TV programs indicate their Web sites addresses where further information may be retrieved and are open for the participation of the audience in Web based forums.

The mass media, including outdoors, play an additional role in the advertising campaigns launched periodically by every new contender to a leading role as ISP. Such campaigns which involved large budgets and much creativity have contributed much to endear the Internet as an intrinsic part of mass culture.

2.2 The Universities; Academic, Regional and Teachers Colleges; Technological Networks

The post-secondary system of education have had an important role for development of the awareness of IS. They provide free access to the Internet for many of its students and faculty members .They pioneered the development of sophisticated information services. The basic training in the use of computers and networks offered or demanded as pre-requisites from the students creates a large cadre of people proficient as users and developers. These institutions and the technology education networks have been the site of many initiatives directed to the k12 educational system, to teacher and other target populations they try to outreach for IS purposes.

2.3 The Voluntary Sector

Many of the IS related actions in the Israeli context are based on voluntary associations or non-profit institutions associated to government initiatives. Outstand in matters concerning IS are ILA - The Israel IT Association and its affiliated organizations; The Israel Internet Association; MOAH - Israeli Association for Computers in Education; The Israeli Association for Information Systems in Medicine; ITA - The Israeli Teleworking Association; and many more.

Trade associations also play an important role like the Israel Industry Association; The Chambers of Commerce Association; The Israeli Software Houses Association; the Electronic Commerce Forum established by the Export Institute and the Chambers of Commerce; the SME Authority; ILTAM The Israel Association for Advanced Technologies in Electronics; the Electronics Industries Association; The Journalists Association; the Lawyers Council; and many more.

These institutions organise workshops, seminars and annual conferences that have increasingly been dedicated to IS issues. They are focus of education, support and self-help in IS related matters.

3. IS National / Regional Strategies and Action Plans

3.1 National Strategy

The blueprint for a national strategy for IS was delineated by the Eitan Committee report of April 1997. It was based on the work of more than 80 voluntary consultants which participated in the parliamentary subcommittees. The main recommendations of the Committee has been implemented in the last two years as they relate to (1) Government readiness (2) Citizen access to the government (3) Legislation (4) Telecommunications infrastructures and regulation (5) Electronic commerce (6) Databases (7) Data security and protection (8) Hebrew and standards.

3.2 Internet and Information Technologies Committee in the Parliament

A new parliamentary sub-committee for the Internet and Information Technologies was established with M.K. Michael (Miky) Eitan as chair (May 2000) . The committee established working groups headed by experts which will lead the development of policy papers in the following areas: Regulation; Internet II; Communications and ISPs; Personal Identification; Hi-Tech Development; Educational (k12) Networking; Teachers Education and Training; Life Long Learning; The Digital Divide; Electronic Commerce; Legislation; Information Protection; Freedom of Information; On-line Democracy; Online Government Access; The Arab sector in the Internet. The WGs will use an advanced Web site and groupware.

3.3 Freedom of Information Law

A legislative initiative having strategic consequences for the IS is the Freedom of Information Law. The law enforces the right of every citizen to receive information from public authorities. This law is creating a whole new information industry in Israel as the Ministries, Local Authorities and other public institutions are turning to the Web as a channel for publishing their internal administrative procedures and be in touch with the applicants.

3.4 Education

The policy in the area of education was set up mainly in 1993 by the Harari report on Science and Technology education in Israel. Following the redefinition of national priorities by the Rabin Government the education budget rose between 1993 and 1996 by almost 50% in fixed prices and about 40 to 50 million dollars have been spent annually in the computerisation of the educational system.

The program has been revised at the end of its first phase and the second phase began in 1999. The original elements in this policy were heavy investments in equipment; the introduction of computers in social and humanities subject matters in addition to the sciences and mathematics; a stress on the training of teachers; innovative demonstration schools.

3.5 Preparation of the Educational System for the Computer Age

The Ministry of Education nominated in ealry 2000 a Committee, headed by Dr. Uzi Melamed, to set up the program preparing the educational system for the computer age. The draft of the Committee recommendations were published at http://www.education.gov.il/vaadot . Draft recommendations have already been published in the areas of technological infrastructures, contents and ethics.

The Ministry asked the public, through press announcements, to react and comment on the draft. The rationale published is the following: "The strength of Israel depends on its capacity to be potent in the ICT area. Investments in the future generation and its preparation to live in the new age is essential for the prosperity of the country. The educational system should be the spearhead of this process so it should have the responsibility for most of the investments necessary to this purpose." Haaretz, 8.8.2000, A6

The Office of the Chief Scientist at the Ministry of Trade and Industry established in 1968 is one of the main foci stimulating technological innovation in Israel and support to R&D. As significant proportion of this support is channelled to initiatives related to the infrastructures needed for the development of the IS: information technologies, multimedia, broadband communications, computer and software industry, microelectronics and the like. In 1985 the Law for the Encouragement of Industrial Research and Development was enacted, and defined the government’s policy. The Office is entitled to subsidize up to 50% of an existing company’s R&D expenses and up to 66% of start-up’s R&D expenses. In 1999 the Office of the Chief Scientist provided $428 million in subsidies for R&D and received royalties of $128 million, which was 32% of the amount expended. The Office provides assistance in other frameworks as well, such as international funds for cooperation; MAGNET – assistance for developing generic technological infrastructure; technological development incubators, assistance for new entrepreneurs with innovative technological ideas.

3.6 The EUMEDIS (Euro MEDiterranean Information Society) Program

The European Commission launched in February 1999, the EUMEDIS Program for the development of the Information Society in the Mediterranean Countries. EUMEDIS will fund an Internet based interconnection between the European research network and the Mediterranean research networks; creating a large "high bandwidth ring" all around the Mediterranean region. In the second strand of the initiative EUMEDIS will fund regional pilot information society projects in five sectors of intervention. The call for these projects was issued in March 2000 and will close in January 2001; a budget of 35 million EURO have been allocated for projects in the five sectors: Health Networks; Electronic Commerce; Tourism and Cultural Heritage; Research applied in industry, business, and innovation; Education. The EUMEDIS Focal Point for Israel was established, in May 2000, at ISERD – The Israel Directorate for the Fifth Framework RTD Program of the European Union (http://eumedis.org.il) .

4. Information Content Stimulation

The Council for Higher Education (the umbrella organisation for the Universities in Israel) issued a call for programs of teaching and study using advanced learning technologies and specially the Internet. The rational is the possibility of setting study process of high quality and very efficient with no dependence of place, time and rate. The program set demands regarding continuity inter-institutional cooperation, evaluation, training and development of faculty, basic training and support for students. The present program is under the responsibility of the Computing Committee of the Planning and Budgeting Board of the Council for Higher Education. http://www.che.org.il/lemida.htm Among the projects chosen through this tender it can be noticed a strong presence of those coming from the Teachers Colleges which have participated earlier, in 1995-1998 in the training of development teams for virtual learning environments.

The HQ for the Second Phase of the Computerization of the Educational System (Directorate for Science and Technology in the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports) issues annually a call for special demonstration projects by schools and other educational institutions for the innovative demonstration of the use of computers and computer networking in education (Roni Dayan, Chief Inspector for Computers in Education and Anat Cohen, in charge of the special projects program). http://www.education.gov.il/scitech

The National Teacher Education Colleges Network issue annual calls for the establishment of Virtual Learning Environments by faculty from the Colleges Several such environments are already available for the public. http://www.macam.ac.il/chtml/svivot.htm .

Netdays Europe: Israel is participating in Netdays Europe since 1998. This is an initiative of the European Commission, Directorate General Education and Culture for expanding the awareness of the contribution of the new ICT technologies for education and culture. Partnerships and the participation of educational and cultural institutions from Israel in the event has grown continuously since then (see: http://netdays.org.il ). The activities of Netdays Europe in Israel include the distribution to all schools in the country of promotional material received from the EC including posters, postcards, tattoo stickers and more.

The National Coordinators for Israel (MAKASH and the Ministry of Education Directorate for Science and Technology) distribute through the sponsorship of the Israeli Internet Association (ISOC-IL) a brochure (10,000 copies) with detailed instructions and examples of successful computer mediated communications educational projects for teachers at all schools in Israel. Israel is one of leading countries in number of projects participating in the event.

Israel was accepted as full member of the EUN - European Schoolnet

The EUN – European Schoolnet (http://www.eun.org) is a network established by the european Ministries of Education that connects the main national educational networks. The EUN Steering Committee convened in September 20 in Brussels approved the incorporation of Israel as a full member to the network . Among the considerations of the SC for this decision were the advanced stage of the introduction of ICT in the education system in Israel and its active participation in the 5FP programs. Israel already participates in several EUN lead projects like the European Treasury Browser (http://etb.eun.org) ; the ENIS – European Network of Innovative Schools (http://enis.eun.org) through the MAKASH Institute. The EUN Teachers Newsletter is now translated to Hebrew and distributed to a large constitutency in Israel (see: http://netdays.org.il/eun ).

Fund for the Development of ICT based Learning Environments

The Chief Scientist Prof. Zamira Mevorah, and the director of the Directorate for Science and Technology Yaffa Vigodsky, from the Ministry of Education, announced the establishment of an special fund, with the support of the Ministry of Finances, for the development of ICT based Learning Environments. The announcement was made at a workshop in March 22, 2000. The workshop has had the participationleading figures in the development of applications of computers in education. In addition to Prof. Mevorah and Mrs. Vigodsky presentations were held by Profs. Gaby Salomon, David Chen, Kenneth Price and the director general of the Ministry of Education Shulamit Amihai. The new fund will stimulate the development of ICT based Learning Environments through partnerships with the education industry.

ITN in Israel: The Interdisciplinary Center for Technological Assessment and Forecasting at Tel-Aviv University has just completed (June, 1999) a survey on ITN in Israel at the request of the DG-III from the European Commission. Most respondents showed above average interest and a massive majority responded positively to the need of ITN services in Israel.

Internet II/New Generation Internet

the Ministry of Science organised several international workshops for the purpose of fostering the establishment of joint consortia and collaborations in high-risk networking technologies. The issues surveyed included the basic technologies; tele-working, tele-learning and tele-collaboration; applications; enabling technologies. Two such workshops were US-Israeli workshops on the Next Generation Internet technologies (May 1999). The German-Israeli NGI Workshop was sponsored and organised by the Ministry of Science in cooperation with the BMB-F, the DFN, the Inter Universitary Computer Centre, the Council of Higher Education and the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The two days workshop held at Nve Ilan near Jerusalem, September 6-7, 1999. Lately a related joint Israeli French workshop was held in November 2000 for Broadband uses of Distance Learning. See: http://www.most.gov.il and http://www.internet-2.org.il

Two calls for proposals have been issued by the Ministry of Science regarding Internet II matters. The first one provides budgets of 20-40,000 dollars a year for innovative, applications and pilot research based on the the implementation of Internet 2. The second call seek to develop algorithms, protocols and innovative tools for broadband.

5. Other tools

Fifth Framework Program: Israel is a full partner of the 5FP of the EC. Israel institutions has so far succeeded in participating in projects for a total of more thant 100 million EURO with the IST program leading the process. Other areasr are: Life Scienced, Energy, Environment and Development; Competitiveness and more. A joint directorate was established by the Ministries of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Science, Culture and Sports, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Council of Higher Education. The chairman of the board is the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Carmel Vernie and the General Manager is Marcel Shaton. The Directorate (ISERD) represents Israel in the different programs and has developed several tools to support the participation of Israeli institutions: weekly presentations, help desks, Information Days, the distribution of brochures, a Web site, email distribution lists and participation in conferences. See: http://www.iserd.org.il

W3C Consortium Office in Israel: The W3C is the institution responsible for the continuing development of the tools for the World Wide Web - architecture, users interfaces, relations between technology and society, accessibility and internationalisation. The establishment of an office for the promotion of the W3C Consortium (see: http://www.w3c.org ) is an initiative of the Israel Internet Association (http://www.isoc.org.il ) and the Hebrew University.

On the occasion of the annual conference of the Israel Internet Association (16.2.2000) the office of the W3C in Israel was officially opened in a ceremony that counted with the participation of the Minister of Communications, Mr Benyamin Ben Eliezer; Mr. Ulrich Boes the officer in the DG Information Society that instrumental in establishing the W3C and having continuing responsibilities related to it; Prof. Robert Hopgood, from the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the UK/ Brunel University and in charge of the W3C Officers at the Consortium.

XML - Extensible Markup Language

A first activity of the W3C office has taken place organised by the Israel Internet Association: a workshop on XML - Extensible Markup Language by Prof. Robert (Bob) Hopgood.

Euro-Med Conference Tele 99 Technology in Learning Environments: The Learning Citizen The conference has taken place in the Dan Panorama hotel from the 25 to the 27 of October with a significant participation from Europe and the Mediterranean Countries. The conference was organised by Dr Margali Ganor from the Open University and enjoyed from the endorsement of the European Commission.

Internet and Information Technologies Day in the Parliament

The Israeli Parliament (Knesset) dedicated a whole day to the Internet and IT (January 4, 2000). The main committees of the parliament held special sessions dedicated to the Information Society aspects of their activities. The Education Committee discussed the challenges posed to the educational system; the Security and External Relations Committee discussed the problem of the safeguarding the nation's IT infrastructures; the Economy Committee discussed Electronic Commerce and financial services in the network; the Work and Welfare Committee discussed the deepening of social and economic divide as a consequence of the IS; the Constitutional Committee discussed legislative initiatives and freedom of expression; the Finances Committee discussed two main issues - The Internet as an opportunity window for the Israeli economy and The Internet and IT at service of the periphery development.

Publicity Campaigns

Several publicity campaigns related to the promotion of IS related actions have been carried out lately. An estimated 20 million dollars were spent by the International telephony corporations in the the campaign for registration of users for their first preference among the different companies; a secondary result of the campaign was an overall significant increment of the international calls.

Other significant publicity campaigns were related to the entry of the third cellular telephony provider, Partner with ensuing reactions of the incubents, Pelephone and Cellcom.

Conferences

Regularly many conferences relevant to Information Society issues take place in Israel, in general with an international participation both among the presenters as well as the participants. Some of the regular events are the following:

Israel Internet Association Annual Conference

The annual conference of the Israel Internet Association takes place in the early part of the new year in the Kfar Hamacabiah Conference Center, Ramat Gan (near Tel-Aviv). The conference has become a regular part of the Information Society calendar in Israel. The different sessions dealed deal with: The Information Society in Israel and in Europe; Data Security; Electronic Commerce; Distance Learning; Law and Jurisprudence; Sociability in the Internet; Advanced Infrastructures and Services (2) ; Freedom of Information; (See: http://www.isoc.org.il ).

Internet World 2000

Internet World 2000 is an event for the general and industrial public with massive participation of thousands of visitors.. It included an Exhibition; Conferences on: Electronic trade in the internet era ; Linux Day ; Information Security in the e-commerce era ; WAP (Wireless Application Protocol): Cellular & Content Day . Many professional seminars in tracks like: - E-commerce management; Management of infrastructure, networking and webmasters; Systems development; Communication and the Internet; Start-up companies and high-technology. The event are organised by the People and Computers publishing group.

The Information Week in Israel

The Information Week included the International Conference on Information and Knowledge in the Internet Age and the Inter@Commerce conference. It was organised by Teldan Information Systems in cooperation with ASMI (The Association of Special Libraries in Israel);

COMDEX Israel

The COMDEX exhibition has become a regular feature of the IS activities in Israel. It includes several targeted conferences. Among them, in the year 2000 (26-28.9.2000): Fast Internet, The Fight for the Broadband; SEYBOLD – Publishing 2000 Conference of the Printing and pre-Printing industry; The conference of the Israel Chamber of System Analysts; Women On-Line; E-Business analysis and limiting risks;IT Opportunities in the Palestine Authority; . The international plenary sessions dealt with: ASP; Linux; eCRM; Fast Internet; eLearning; mCommerce, WAP and Bluetooth; Data Security.

Telecom: The Future is Here

Telecom is becoming a feature in the Israeli exhibits and conferences scene. This year, due to the events taking place following the Intifada, the number of foreign guests dropped by 50%. However a rich program still took place covering areas like: Multimedia; E-Commerce; Broadband Optical Networks; ATM and IP Networks; Network Control; Competition between communication infrastructures; Advanced Communications Services; Mobile Internet; Communications Network Security; Pairing Databases and Communication Networks; Broadband access networks; Internet in education; Marketing and publicity of information and communication services. (See: http://www.telecom-israel.com/2000 ).

Other conferences and exhibits that have taken place lately include:

Freedom of Information Congress for officers in charge of implementing the Freedom of Information Act (Hilton, Tel Aviv, 8-9, November);

E-Commerce – A workshop Series dealing with Legal issues; Logistics; Secrets of E-Commerce Success (The E-Commerce Forum, HAMIL The Israel Center for Management, 22.1.2001 http://www.hamil.co.il)

The National Export Day: Exports in the Age of Advanced Communications Technologies and Electronic Commerce with the participation of the Minister of Finance, Avraham Shochat, and the Former Minister of Industry and Trade, Ran Cohen. See: http://www.export.gov.il

The International Salon of Entertainment Electronics at the David Intercontinental Hotel, 17-19 October 2000 (by SIGTEAM).

The Fifth Conference of the Israeli Association of Communications held by the Association and the Department of Communications at Tel Aviv University (24.12.2000) dealing with issues like Communications in a Split Society; Culture and Identity; Professional norms; the Sectorial Press in israel; Stereotypes and Reality; Policy, propaganda and rhetoric in politics.

Symposium on Medical Informatics Education – Indispensable Skills for the New Millenium. Held by the Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University 19 December 2000.

B2B in Israel from Theory to Practice (Gan Oranim, Tel Aviv, 6.12.200) by the Hi Tech Israel Business Forum.

Technological Opportunities and Social Change: The Annual Conference of Managers (23 November, Tel Aviv) with the Prime Minister Ehud Barak and the Minister of Finance, Avraham Shohat.

The deficit in Hi Tech Human Resources in Israel – Consequences and Coping Strategies (11.12.2000) by the Ministry of Work and Welfare and the Human Resources Planning Authority and HAMIL – Israel Center of Management.

Start Up Here – an enterprising conference at the Hebrew University. By Yazam, Pilpel and the Business Administration School of the Hebrew University. See: http://www.cooly.co.il.

6. Innovative actions / initiatives

6.1 AMDOCS will set up a plant in a Development Region

AMDOCS is the main exporter of software in Israel with sales of about 1 billion dollars annually. It has its main facilities in the central region of the country. It held lately negotiations with the Shaar HaNegev Regional Council, situated in a development region in southern part of the country, near Shderot in view of establishing a plant in the new Shaar Hanegev Industrial Park, situated near the campus of the P.Sapir Acadenuc College which has sophisticated training facilities in technological fields. AMDOCS requested that besides the regular support extended to enterprises in development areas subsidies be extended to its operations in the central part of the country. The mean support they asked was on the order of 100 thousand dollars per worker. Following this request the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Trade and Industry decided to establish an special program for the south region of the country and for the region in the Lebanon border. A tender will be held in the next two months and subsidies of the order of 27thousand dollars per worker will be extended to hi tech corporations willin got relocate to these areas. The two main criteria of the tender will be the number of work places to be established in these regions and that the rate of support requested (the lower the better). The Regional Council is establishing the Sapir Tech, a Technological Engineering center with investments of the order of 15 million dollars for training hi tech industry personnel. (Haaretz, 21.12.2000, C1).

6.2 The E-Commerce Forum

The Forum (http://ecomm.bezeqint.net/marketing/about_us.htm ) was established to encourage the application and the dissemination of E-Commerce systems and the marketing through the Internet. It was established by Hanoch Herman, presently director for E-Commerce at the Bezeq Beinleumi corporation . The Forum runs a Web site with a rich database of articles and newspaper clippings relevant to its purposes which are freely available. It is run with the support of the officers of the department of Business Information at the Chambers of Commerce and the team of consultants from the Export Institute and many consultants and Internet experts. The Forum organises workshops and training courses in matters related to e-commerce and marketing in the Internet.

6.3 International Conference: Education in the Age of the Information Revolution – Opportunities and Challenges.

The conference, organised by the Direcorate for Science and Technology of the Ministry of Education included the annual meeting of MOAH – The Israel Association for Computers in Education from the 26^th to the28th of June. With more than 1,700 registered participants the conference was a significan expression of the activities developed in Israel related to the integration of ICT in education. Two exhibits at the conference presented on the one hand the Israeli multimedia educational industry and on the other a dynamic expression of a selection of the schools initiatives in the area of ICT in education. The final plenary panel compared different national approaches for computerisation of the educational system with presentations from Denmark (Dr. Birte Christensen-Dalsgaard, UNI-C); Roger Blamire from the EUN who presented the UK; and a detailed presentation of the Israeli national program by Yaffa Vigodsky, director of the Directorate for Science and Technology of the Ministry of Education in Israel who chaired the conference.

6.4 Promotional Activities of the Export Institute

The Israel Export Institute (http://www.export.gov.il ) runs a large number of promotional activities related to Information Society issues. Some examples of events held in June 2000: (1) The production of a CD with a catalogue of Israeli companies that deal with Communications and Internet to increase their exposure among technologies companies, distributors, agents, investors, integrators. Thousands of copies are to be distributed by direct mailings, exhibits, conferences, Israel representations abroad and more. The person in charge is Oren Mendelsohn – oren@export.gov.il (2) Workshop for building a business model for start up companies . Contact Or Shtadler (or@export.gov.il) (3) National stand established by the Export Institute at the Internet World Conference in New York (25-27.10.2000). Start up companies will enjoy special conditions and support in establishing their booths at the exhibit. Contact Eyal Meshulam (meshulam@export.gov.il).

6.5 Land Holdings of Israel to be published in the Internet

The Land Holdings Book for Israel is expected to be published in the Internet as soon as the Economic Committee of the Knesset approves the necessary regulations. The ammendment to the Law of the Israel Land Authority was already approved by the parliament. In the first phase it will be made available data on the 147,000 properties for which full information is available in the Authority; in a second phase another 300,000 properties, information on which are still incomplete, will be published. The Authority intends to publish the complete books of the Land Registrar, The "Tabu", including those properties not registered at the Authority, that is private properties. The publication of this data will enable the public time to get information on the status of a property or a parcel prior to the transfer of ownership; the Authority intends also to supply certificates and accept payments through the Internet.

6.6 IDF Intelligence Division acts as an Incubaror for Start Ups

Gen. Amos Malca the head of the Intelligence Division of the IDF (AMAN) stated that start up companies, Israeli and international, are established on the basis of know how acquired by their founders during their service in the Division. He said that the military technology is "civilized" and serve as the basis for start ups. Among such technologies he counted data mining,understanding of natural languages and more. Their capacity to profit from these technologies is due to the fact that AMAN in general does not register patents or limit the use of the its Intellectual Property. He said that the success of many Israeli projects is due to the fact that service in AMAN is carried oun in a development environment that educates to complete projects strictly in time. Malca spoke at the Fifth Meeting on Knowledge Management held in Herzliya in the first week of June. (Haaretz, June 14 2000, page C3).

6.7 Self Learning Site Established by the Ministry of Finance

The Ministry of Finance established a self learning site providing courses for making the acquaintance with the Internet; tips and tricks for using Microsoft Software and the Ministry’s system MAOR; setting up distributed learning courses and more. The site target population are the Ministry’s officers but it is of interest for the general public as well. (see: http://www.mof.gov.il/learn.htm ).

Please note that this report has been prepared under the sole responsibility of the ESIS II contractors.
It does not necessarily reflect the views of the Commission, nor does the Commission accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of information contained herein.
The ESIS Team of contractors welcomes any additional information or corrections.