Director's Report

In 2010, the Samuel Neaman Institute took significant steps to realize its vision of assisting decision makers with research and recommendations to outline a national policy in a great variety of subjects. Special attention was given to subjects of science and technology policy, higher education policy, environment, industrial policy, and physical infrastructure in the State of Israel.

Among the steps taken during 2010, one program is especially noteworthy: the umbrella program for the implementing the conclusions of the "Israel 2028 – Vision and Strategy for Israel" report. This report and its wide variety of implications became recently the center of the Institute's activity. As part of this activity, a program was drafted which presented, among other things, alternatives to the industrial policy that leverages science, technology and innovation and upgrades the traditional industries. This activity was all the more important in treating the problem mentioned in the conclusions of the "Israel 2028" report as one of the major problems of the Israeli industry, that is, its binary structure: a successful hi-tech industry on the one hand, and on the other hand a traditional industry, in need of technological upgrading and innovative augmentation. Implementing these conclusions is highly significant also for bridging socioeconomic gaps in Israel.

Another important subject, loaded with social and economic significance as well, mentioned in the "Israel 2028" report, is the relative absence of the Ultra-Orthodox sector involvement in the Israeli labor force. The Neaman Institute project for integrating the Ultra-Orthodox sector in the Israeli economy was consolidated in 2010 by drafting a "road map", and presenting it to decision makers. The subject was discussed in various workshops, meetings and forums. Both, a steering committee as well as an advisory committee were established, which include most of the leading figures who are involved in this important issue in Israel.

The policy research group on environmental subjects had also excelled itself in 2010. The steering committee of the Annual International Convention Cleantech 14, expressing its appreciation, elected   in June 2010 the Samuel Neaman Institute as the excellent academic institution in the subject of environmental quality. The Neaman Institute had prepared, in a joint project with the Ministry of Environmental Protection, a protocol for recording and reporting emissions of greenhouse gases in Israel. This protocol will be used by the reporting agencies, the government and the public. It was developed by adapting the schemes used around the world to the particular needs of Israel and is based on the voluntary participation of commercial, industrial and public organizations. Those organizations that joined the system are committed to adopting the measuring and reporting methods according to the protocol's instructions.

The Samuel Neaman Institute has made in recent years a significant contribution to the establishment of a systematic and informed process of consolidating a national policy for research, technology and innovation. This work is updated occasionally and the data base is compared internationally at time periods of decades and more. The main subjects include national expenditure on civil R&D, human capital and output in science and technology. The third edition in a series of publications on indices for science and technology in Israel includes an update of key indices on the subjects of inputs and outputs in science, technology and innovativeness, as well as new subjects, such as government assistance to R&D and globalization issues. The series of these publications had contributed to the positioning of the Neaman Institute in recent years as the leading institute in Israel on the subject of national policy regarding science and technology. In the same manner, the analyses, done by our researchers, of national programs that encourage R&D and the surveys of Israel's research infrastructures, research outputs and citations of scientific publications and patents that were completed this year, will assist decision makers and emphasize the unique contribution of the Neaman Institute to issues of national importance.

The Samuel Neaman Institute's research group won in 2010 a wide scope contract as part of the Seventh Framework Program of the European Union (FP7) together with a group of institutions from European countries. The goal of this study is to examine the role played by the demand side in creating technological knowledge. The Samuel Neaman Institute researchers are involved in major parts of the project, and a new methodology that maps innovation systems in each country (whose principles were recently presented to the other partners in this study) will be developed and completed as part of this project.

A new Water Forum was launched this year in cooperation with the Grand Water Research Institute at the Technion and the Water Authority. A summary of the first workshop was published in an SNI preprint format. Water issues are of supreme national importance in our country and the Neaman Institute will contribute its capabilities and skills to the national efforts.

Conferences and workshops organized by the Neaman Institute excite interest among professionals and the general public. I will mention now just a few of the meetings held this year:  The meeting that addressed the issue of centralization in the Israeli economy, was widely debated by the press. The meetings of the Energy Forum and of the Higher Education Forum were attended by many professionals and experts. The interesting workshops, as part of the BioNorth Project and the above mentioned meeting of our new Water Forum were held with the participation of senior researchers and decision makers.

The Neaman Institute is responsible for the information centers of projects as part of the MAGNET Consortiums, and the number of consortiums to which we provide information services grew.

Prof. Moshe Moshe
Director of the Samuel Neaman Institute

top