The start-up nation: Workshops at Technion in Haifa

Israel Institute of Technology gave the EIT Health group insights about the key success factors of the “start-up nation”

On 2-4 October, following the first international Regional Innovation Scheme Knowledge Triangle Integration (KTI) event of the year, the ASTP-Proton Annual Conference on technology transfer in Liège, EIT Health InnoStars continued to promote good practices of the most successful innovation ecosystems in Haifa, Israel, hosted by Technion, a member of EIT Health and EIT Food.

The group of 28 delegates included EIT Health hubs and InnoStars partners from the EIT Health InnoStars network. Participants could get a thorough overview and insights into one of the leading innovation ecosystems of the world. Experts from Technion, associated start-up companies, investors and the Israel Innovation Authority shared their profound experiences from different aspects about the role of Technion – and universities in general – in the development of the regional and national innovation ecosystems.

The presenters reflected also on the specific questions regarding the innovation ecosystem improvement, collected previously from the participants.

David Shem Tov, Head of Research Promotion at Technion, summarised the recipe of building a successful innovation ecosystem in his talk. David and his hosting team made a splendid job of inviting a very authentic and inspiring expert line-up and also of providing a genuine culinary experience through the catering services for the participants.

During the three days, in the two EIT Health InnoStars internal workshops, the delegates had the opportunity to share their views about local challenges with each other and to discuss the current tasks, next steps and milestones of this year’s RIS Knowledge Triangle Integration programme.

The next closing workshop event of the year will take place in the impressive innovation environment of Erlangen, Germany in November, where the delegates will get insights about one of the leading European innovation ecosystems, the Medical Valley: Siemens, Fraunhofer Institute, Friedrich Alexander University and local start-ups; their success factors and challenges.

Please find below a few comments from the participants of the programme:

“The visit to Haifa made me realise that the “Just Do It” mentality really fits to Israel. It was inspiring and the discussions with the group wese very constructive. We definitely got a step further in creating a more mature innovation ecosystem.”

“I found this visit and the meetings impressive and highly inspirational. Thank you for making it happen.”

“Amazing and a very well-organised event. Greatly appreciated that I could be here with EIT Health.”

“Far away from home, but thanks to the sensitivity and good organisation of this unique opportunity to better know the “start-up nation” I’m now feeling motivated to develop our own region.”

“Thank you for the opportunities for developing our skills and for the support to make changes in our innovation ecosystem.”

“This three-day workshop in Haifa was really revealing! We saw that they are really the “start-up nation”, excellent choice by EIT Health InnoStars. We will try to bring some of the ideas home.”

“An inspiring event that has changed my perspective about the relationships of enterprises and academy.”