{"id":2762,"date":"2018-09-04T08:30:17","date_gmt":"2018-09-03T20:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/?p=2762"},"modified":"2018-08-30T15:02:36","modified_gmt":"2018-08-30T03:02:36","slug":"lessons-from-israeli-agritech-report-from-a-recent-delegation-of-new-zealanders-and-australians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/2018\/09\/lessons-from-israeli-agritech-report-from-a-recent-delegation-of-new-zealanders-and-australians\/","title":{"rendered":"Lessons from Israeli AgriTech – report from a recent delegation of New Zealanders and Australians"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Israel Institute of New Zealand has previously written about some of the AgriTech links between Israel and New Zealand<\/a> and an interview with Arama Kukutai<\/a>, who is at the forefront of some of those links.<\/p>\n In May, a delegation of Australian and New Zealand professionals – producers, farmers, service providers, consultancies, government, academia and banking – representing over 25 different organisations visited Israel to learn about how the country promotes AgriTech growth.<\/p>\n The delegation visited Israel because it has a population of over 8m (almost double New Zealand) and a land area of 22,000km2 (half the size of Canterbury), an uncertain geo-political climate, and a challenging agricultural environment with only 20 percent of the land being arable. Israel has triumphed in the face of this adversity to become a world leader in AgriTech.<\/p>\n The trip was organised and managed by the Trans-Tasman Business Circle<\/a> in partnership with the The Israel Trade Commission, Australia<\/a> and led by Miles Hurrell, Chief Operating Officer Farm Source, Fonterra. A report from the delegation<\/a>, written by Marco Clobo, Partner of Deloitte, and Xavier Rizos, Innovation Entrepreneur In Residence at Westpac, identifies five key lessons learned.<\/p>\n From the report<\/a>, these are summarised below:<\/p>\n Throughout history, the Jewish people have faced adversity and persecution. Through this shared history they developed a culture of “chutzpah” \u2013 roughly defined as audacity and self-confidence, which results in an ability to meet challenges head-on and, with some creativity, transform weaknesses into strengths.<\/p>\n Israeli culture is unique and influenced by both the diversity of its people and the overlap between social and commercial community connections. This is a small and multidisciplinary country, with one degree of separation resulting in high connectivity.<\/p>\n Lacking natural resources, Israel has consistently prioritised education and research. The nation spends 4.1 to 4.25 percent of GDP on civilian R&D \u2013 more than double the European Union average of 1.9%, and one and a half times more than the US average of 2.79%.<\/p>\n Israel has mandatory military service for both men and women. This has had a significant impact on Israeli society and has helped infuse multiple aspects of an entrepreneurial culture.<\/p>\n Israel’s global vision is applied both internally and externally. As a nation, they welcome diversity with unique immigration policy. Externally, they recognise that they are a small country with a small market, therefore entrepreneurialism and commercial innovation must skew towards ideas that chase international interest. These five themes are similar to the “6 C’s” reported by the 2016 innovation delegation<\/a> led by Spark CEO, Simon Moutter.<\/p>\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n