31 January 2017
Madrid Headquarters
An economy based on talent and innovation that has been at the foundation of the spectacular transformation of a small country with hardly any natural resources such as Israel is an example of a nation that has turned entrepreneurship and innovation into its main distinguishing feature. This is how the Israeli ambassador, David Kutner, highlighted things during his participation at in the Deusto Business School Lunches which take place once a month as part of the entrepreneurship and innovation programmes organised at the head offices of the school in Madrid.
During the lunch, which was presided over by the general manager of the Deusto Business School, Luc Theis, the ambassador drew attention to the good relations existing between Spain and Israel, and wished to take advantage of his speech to encourage those present to get to know his country better.
Kutner explained the keys to the Israeli entrepreneurship model to those in attendance and pointed out that, in overcoming distances, Israeli experiences in this sphere of activity may help other countries such as Spain to pursue the best examples and good practices that have enabled Israel to attract major multinationals in the area of R&D and become the country with the largest number of companies quoted on the Nasdaq outside of the USA.
The Israeli ambassador also drew attention to the importance of the chief scientist – a post that was created in 1969 within the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Employment that has played a decisive role in state support for innovation.
For his part, the President of the Spanish-Israeli Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Gil Gidrón, who was at the presidential table alongside well-known figures such as Juan Pedro Moreno, President of Accenture, took the floor to contribute towards providing a broad overview of the Israeli innovation ecosystem and what can be extrapolated from that experience to Spain.
Gidrón pointed out that, from among the different aspects that have contributed towards the success of the Israeli innovation model, attention should be drawn to some linked to the smaller number of hierarchies existing in the country and to the spontaneity enjoyed by society in general that is endorsed by Government policies that focus on innovation.
Both Kutner and Gidrón highlighted the fact that the Israeli innovation model has enabled the country to avoid the economic crisis.
The event was presented by Iñaki Ortega, director of the school in Madrid and academic director of the entrepreneurship and innovation programmes PLPE and PLCE, which are organised jointly by the Deusto Business School and the ICADE Business School.
