Twenty-first International Conference on Knowledge, Culture, and Change in Organizations

Abstract

Innovation is a major driver of economic development and what drives competition in modern age, allowing nations a competitive position through investments in technology. The nature of innovation changed significantly in the last decades, and it is today based on technological advancement and openness to global developments. As the world is changing, competition between countries accelerates, and the role of governments in technology development is critical. The most significant role in innovation is provided by governments, which need to create new markets rather than just supervising them. Israel provides aa great example for the success of governmental policy to encourage innovation. The country is a leader in innovation. It known as a “Start-up Nation”, which means that its economic growth is linked to innovation. It is a leading example of the policy that promotes innovation by the government, which is deeply involved in the market and dictates the scope of technological advancement. This policy is different from policies of other developed countries, which encourage free trade and allow markets to dictate policy. The success of Israeli innovation policy requires to investigate the nature of this development, and the question that is examined here is: how a policy of governmental intervention can promote innovation?