Headway With ‘Innovation Diplomacy’

THE fast-track 'innovation diplomacy' and super-powered technology partnership initiated by the UAE and Israel three years ago have been leading to a paradigm shift in the digital order and startup landscape of the Gulf region, raising the prospects for a more sustainable, secure, and prosperous future for all stakeholders.

Since the signing of the historic Abraham Accord, both countries have pulled out all stops to open up new avenues for innovation and scientific collaboration across a multitude of sectors, paving the way for path-breaking joint ventures and development programmes. In three years, both nations have made remarkable headway with their multi-pronged collaborations across sectors such as agritech, cyber and security, environment, food and energy security, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and other disruptive innovations, leading to the development of innovative solutions.

STARTUP NATION CENTRAL

Playing a critical role as a catalyst for the thriving partnership is an Israeli non-profit NGO, Startup Nation Central (SNC). Since 2020, it has been fostering innovation diplomacy and facilitating increased technological and knowledge-sharing partnerships between the private and public sectors of both nations. Innovation diplomacy leverages Israel’s knowledge and experience to foster deeper relationships and integrate more seamlessly into the region while supporting partners’ long-term strategic growth programmes. This benefits everyone involved, and the ripple effect benefits the region — and the world — as a whole.

SNC has been effective in identifying areas of collaboration and facilitating partnerships between startups, investors, and corporations of the two countries that share a similar mindset on the importance of innovation, research, science, and technology as the pillars of a knowledge-based, highly productive, and competitive economy. Consequently, the two countries could focus on a development strategy driven by entrepreneurs in a business-friendly environment where public and private sectors form effective partnerships.

CREATING NEW OPPORTUNITIES

Avi Hasson, CEO of Startup Nation Central, believes that the collaboration can lead to the development of innovative solutions in various sectors, including healthcare, renewable energy, and cybersecurity. He emphasised the need for both countries to work together to address common challenges and to leverage their respective strengths to create new opportunities.

Speaking to a media delegation to Tel Aviv from the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco recently, Hasson stressed the importance of cultural exchange between the two countries. He believes that cultural exchange can help build trust and foster collaboration between the two nations. “Innovation is what drives us forward as a society. It is how we grow and progress, improve efficiency, and expand knowledge. Every region and country has its own areas of innovative strength, making it imperative to share knowledge if we are to meet our shared, uncertain future. The best way forward is together.”

SNC’s contributions in creating a matchmaking platform, organising joint events and workshops, and promoting cultural exchange have helped to build bridges between the two nations. Discussions with SNC officials highlighted how the two-way hi-tech innovation diplomacy can provide solutions to enhance quality of life and how their digital collaboration can contribute to a positive global impact while helping to redefine and redesign the future and open up a whole new untapped market of the Middle East North Africa and the GCC. The discussion also focused on how the two nations’ potential for creating a super-powered technology partnership enhances their ranking on the Global Innovation Index.

“Israel's innovation diplomacy is helping to revolutionise the region’s digital order and technological landscape. We expect the thriving collaboration to lead to a more sustainable, secure, and prosperous future for both nations,” SNC officials argue.

As a non-profit organisation that aims to promote Israel's startup ecosystem globally, SNC has been working closely with both governments as well as Bahrain and Morocco to identify areas of cooperation and to facilitate partnerships between startups, investors, and corporations.

UAE-ISRAEL CONNECT

One of the significant contributions of SNC is the creation of an online platform called "UAE-Israel Connect." This platform serves as a matchmaking service for Israeli and Emirati startups and investors. The platform enables startups to showcase their products and services and connect with potential investors and partners.

Another significant contribution of SNC has been the organization of joint events and workshops between Israeli and Emirati startups. These events provide an opportunity for startups to exchange ideas and collaborate on innovative solutions. According to SNC officials, the UAE and Israel share a similar mindset on the importance of innovation, research, and science and technology as the pillars of a knowledge-based, highly productive, and competitive economy. The two countries are focused on a strategy driven by entrepreneurs in a business-friendly environment where public and private sectors form effective partnerships.

“The partnership has the potential to provide solutions to enhance the quality of life and innovation. Both have a strong focus on creating a business-friendly environment that fosters innovation and entrepreneurship. With their shared focus on innovation, the UAE and Israel can collaborate to create new solutions to address common challenges, such as healthcare, transportation, and energy,” they said.

With the increasing digitisation of the world, both countries have a significant role to play in shaping the region’s digital future. The partnership can leverage the strengths of both countries to create innovative digital solutions that can positively impact the world. For example, the two countries can collaborate to develop new technologies to address climate change and promote sustainable development.

REDESIGNING THE FUTURE

The partnership also has the potential to redefine and redesign the future. With their shared focus on innovation and entrepreneurship, the two countries can collaborate to create new solutions in various sectors, such as healthcare, transportation, and energy. The partnership can also open up a whole new untapped market of Middle East North Africa and the GCC, creating new opportunities for businesses and entrepreneurs.

The potential for creating a super-powered technology partnership enhances both countries’ ranking on the Global Innovation Index while providing solutions to enhance quality of life and innovation. To this end, SNC has set up a joint task force to boost cooperation between strategic industries, including fintech, agrifood tech, education, cyber, digital health, energy, petrochemicals, cleantech, and sustainability

According to Arab diplomats, the bilateral tech and cyber partnership demonstrates the depth of the geostrategic realignment between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi. The Emiratis and Israelis have started to work in tandem to build a tech and cyber coalition that leverages each nation’s comparative advantage with Israel's leadership on cyberwarfare, deep tech, and drone and anti-drone capabilities, and the UAE's financial strength and advancement on scaling digital solutions. The alliance allows the two countries to benefit from each other's value proposition, in particular in deep-tech space such as blockchain, cybersecurity, AI, and quantum computing. For the UAE, which has become a tech leader among Arab nations through its comparative advantage in digital transformation and smart cities, the partnership helps in attaining a strategic objective of pivoting to deep-tech in areas such as cloud computing, blockchain, and AI.

For Israel, the UAE represents a leading market for its technologies, a source of investment in capital-intensive technologies, and a launching pad for Israeli exports and partnerships in the rest of the region.

The Cybertech Global conference held in Dubai highlighted how quickly the cyber cooperation between the UAE and Israel has increased since the signing of the Abraham Accords. The UAE has announced its establishment of a $10 billion investment fund in Israel that would focus on strategic industries. Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv also launched the "UAE-IL tech zone," an initiative that aims at building connections that will focus on technology-related ventures through relationships, connections, and the creation of businesses.

WATERGEN'S JOINT VENTURE

Abu Dhabi-based Global Valley, a banner project of the Abraham Accords, has been designed to address an international shortage of programming talent. It is the product of collaboration between Abu Dhabi’s G42, which has interests ranging from biotechnology to artificial intelligence, the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, and Israel’s Viola Ventures, which has $5 billion in assets under management.

One of the centerpieces of the tech joint venture between the UAE and Israel is the collaboration between an Israeli company, Watergen, which pioneered the process of extracting drinking water in commercial quantities from the atmosphere, and an Abu Dhabi-based Baynunah, a sister company of Al Dahra Group that specializes in a food security group. This collaboration aims to generate water from the atmosphere, a solution that can significantly help in addressing water scarcity in the region. The joint venture is a perfect example of how both nations are going to benefit from this collaboration in various sectors.

Watergen, helmed by Dr Michael Mirilashvili, its founder and president, and Baynunah laid the cornerstone for a Watergen production facility in the UAE. The joint venture produces non-carbonated water under the brand Ma Hawa, which means water and air in Arabic. The JV has plans to commercialise similar facilities in the Gulf states and Africa.

Mirilashvili said his company currently produces machines that can generate from 20 to 6,000 liters of drinking water per day through joint ventures in the UAE, the US, Israel, and China. Another joint venture with India’s SMV Jaipuria Group is in the process of opening production lines with two more partnerships on the way.

A joint Israeli-Emirati water research program was rolled out as part of a collaboration between the Israeli Watergen company and Baynunah. It works with the Moshe Mirilashvili Institute for Applied Water Studies at Tel Aviv University.

CYBER SECURITY & ENVIRONMENT

The UAE and Israel share similar climatic conditions, and both countries have been able to develop innovative solutions to address the challenges of food security. The collaboration between the two countries can lead to the development of new and innovative solutions in agritech, such as vertical farming and hydroponics.

Both the UAE and Israel have been investing heavily in cybersecurity, and their collaboration can lead to the development of more robust and secure systems. This collaboration can also help in addressing the challenges of cyber threats, which are becoming increasingly sophisticated.

The UAE has been at the forefront of environmental sustainability in the region, and Israel has been leading in innovation towards sustainable solutions. The collaboration between the two countries can lead to the development of innovative solutions towards environmental sustainability.

Both the UAE and Israel are facing challenges in food and energy security, and their collaboration can lead to the development of innovative solutions to address these challenges. This collaboration can lead to the development of new technologies in renewable energy and food production.

• Business Technology Review