The aim of the research is to suggest policy implications for expansion of bilateral cooperation between Korea and Israel through examination of Israel's hightech startup promotion policies and international R&D cooperation.
Israel's hightech startup policies have been developed with the Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS). OCS is the core organization for startup policies of Israel, responsible for managing the Israeli government's R&D-related policies including raising of R&D funds, promoting programs for startup support, and international R&D cooperation. Technological Incubators and the Yozma fund, which are representative programs of the OCS, form the basis of Israel's startup policies. After the start-up system was firmly established and private sector participation increased, the OCS transferred the operation of these programs to the private sector to avoid the inefficiency and slow decision-making characteristic of the public sector.
In light of the inherent risks that accompany development of innovative technologies, products and services, Israeli government operates exclusive organizations and promotes R&D development through bilateral and multilateral cooperation with various countries. In particular, Israel established bi-national foundations with the U.S., Singapore, Korea and Canada to provide R&D projects with financial support including conditional grants of up to 50% of R&D expenses for joint projects. Moreover, bi-national funds provide an incentive for companies in both countries to participate in joint R&D projects by waiving repayments when the projects fall short in terms of commercialization. Israeli companies can also utilize European partners' networks through Europe's R&D cooperation programs when they attempt to enter the global market.
Israel, as a non-European associate member country, participates in the EU Framework Program (FP), the main R&D project in Europe. Israel is also engaged in bilateral agreements with various European countries in addition to EUREKA, an intergovernmental cooperation program involving nearly all European countries.
Based on diverse international cooperation programs, Israel has been able to create a global network and Israeli companies, which benefit from the programs, stand as some of the world's leading corporations. Moreover, these successes create a virtuous cycle by concentrating venture capital on Israeli companies.
For expansion of cooperation between Korea and Israel in hightech startups and the R&D sector, implications for government policy should be considered as follows. First, technology transfer from Israel to Korea should be activated through bilateral cooperation in the R&D sector. Collecting original technologies of Israeli universities or companies and transferring their technologies to Korea after evaluating the possibility of commercialization will contribute to development of innovative technologies in Korea.
Second, creating a manpower pool of evaluators like Israel will ensure fairness in the evaluation system. In order to implement this plan, retirees with extensive experiences and expertise or entrepreneurs who succeeded in the global market can be included in the manpower pool.
Third, efforts for entry into the global market should be strengthened for development of hightech startups in Korea. Toward this end, network platform for Korean startup companies should be constructed in Tel Aviv first, to network with Israeli accelerators and facilitate infusion of venture capital. In addition, organizing a joint Korean-Israel start-up festival can also be considered.