6 | JULY 21 • 2022
essay
Beer Sheba — Israel’s Innovation Capital
B
eer Sheba (known
in Hebrew as Be’er
Sheva) is not on most
visitors’ itinerary to Israel,
but once arriving at what was
often regard-
ed as a sleepy
desert out-
post in Israel’s
socio-economic
periphery, the
visitor now finds
Israel’s inno-
vation capital.
The capital of Israel’s Negev is
developing a most impressive
650-acre innovation district
that will connect the city’s aca-
demic institutions, industry
and the community, focusing
on digital health solutions,
desert technologies and cyber.
Professor Daniel
Haimovich, president of Ben-
Gurion University, says it very
clearly, over seven decades
after Israel’s first prime
minister David Ben-Gurion
advocated the potential of the
desert, “The innovation dis-
trict is no longer a project but
a significant landmark in the
emerging history of the State
of Israel and the Negev area in
particular. I can already envi-
sion how the district will look:
the whole area will be bustling
with activity: innovative proj-
ects, promising new startups,
technological and scientific
advancements, blooming
research, and multiple proj-
ects and collaborations that
will be realized. Something
big is about to happen … It
will set the stage for ongoing
action toward fulfilling earlier
dreams.”
Currently, Beer Sheba is
home to the world’s first
Innovation Center for Climate
Change, specializing in des-
ert technology. It will be
joined by DeserTech, a newly
launched desert technology
company announced by the
Israeli Innovation Institute.
Following suit, the Israeli gov-
ernment declared Beer Sheba
the Cyber Capital of Israel and
went into action by moving
the IDF technology and com-
munications divisions to the
Negev.
The cooperation between
the city’s institutions, includ-
ing Ben-Gurion University
of the Negev (BGU), with
its 20,000 students, the Tech
Park and the Soroka Medical
Naomi Miller
LIORG1993
PURELY COMMENTARY
continued on page 8
1942 - 2022
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