Business trip to Israel with Economics and Digital Minister Andreas Pinkwart

by | Mar 27, 2019 | digital pioneers, digitalization, innovation, travel | 0 comments

Dream Big

“Dream Big” is written in impressive letters at the Shimon Peres Center for Peace and Innovation. This was a stop on the entrepreneurial journey that I was allowed to undertake in March with some participants of the Digital Economy Advisory Council with NRW Economics and Digital Minister Pinkwart.

Andreas Pinkwart, Andera Gadeib & Dream Big-Motto by President Shimon Peres שמעון פרס.

I have to confess, I had a little bit of anxiety on my first trip to Israel. After all, I have both a German and a Syrian passport and the two countries – Israel and Syria – have, unfortunately, carried out some conflicts over the past few years. But what is true for nations is of course not true for people. Quite the opposite: Very friendly and with a triple “Welcome” we were greeted at the airport in Tel Aviv. And today I know: Those were three extremely exciting and really “big” days around the digitalization, which I was allowed to experience.
 

Jerusalem

Think innovatively

Israel has the second highest density of start-ups – after Silicon Valley. The specialty of the Israelis is cyber security. On the journey, we quickly understood why: The long-lasting political conflicts and the compulsory military service for all Israelis – both men and women – are preparing you for the dangers of real and digital life.

My favourite photo of the Israel trip is therefore also the aforementioned “Dream Big” motif, because on the one hand it stands for the motto of President Shimon Peres שמעון פרס and on the other hand it tells so much about the desire for innovative, future-oriented thinking and acting, which we were able to get infected by on the spot. I have continued to experience Minister Pinkwart as a passionate politician, “great thinker” and doer who really wants to advance the digital age and thus the economy as a whole. With him and the delegation, it was a pleasure to visit the Shimon Peres Center for Peace and Innovation, which opened just six weeks ago.

There you can see a truly impressive exhibition, that you can participate in, about the history and inventive spirit of the country. A visit is recommended for everyone who travels to Israel, as it allows you to immerse yourself in the Israeli innovation cosmos of the past and present. How travelling and collecting experiences and impressions can generally fuel our thinking and our desire for innovation is also described in my book “The future is human“. It will be published at the Book Fair on 7 October 2019.

Journey with a watchful eye

The entire delegation in Israel. Advisory Board and NRW International. Source: https://www.wirtschaft.nrw/pressemitteilung/abschluss-der-israelreise-vertiefte-kooperation-zwischen-israel-und-nordrhein

If so much can be learned from Israel in terms of founder spirit and digitality, it is obvious that we North Rhine-Westphalia will also work more closely with the state – and this was also the reason for the trip. Of course, innovation is a highly relevant topic for Dialego, so it was a great pleasure for me to make sense of the needs on the ground and to establish contacts with companies in Israel.

I was particularly impressed by the Sosa innovation platform. The strength of this mix of incubator, co-working space and technology scout lies in understanding the needs of large industrial companies and bringing them together with the right young company. It is not surprising that cybersecurity is also a major focus here. After all, the young companies from Tel Aviv and the surrounding area are really one step ahead in this profession of the world.

A few impressions from Israel

Sosa Tel Aviv. A special ecosystem

Co-working at Sosa’s. Tel Aviv

Dialego has also been involved in other Israeli innovation fields for some time, such as machine learning and autonomous driving. Therefore, this was certainly not our last trip to Israel and I am looking forward to applying the findings in our innovation projects in Germany and around the world.

Read more in the German press release “At the end of the delegation trip“.

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