And still on the subject of Tel Aviv..
ISRAELIS have one more reason to be proud of themselves — one of their cities was singled out for a rare honor. The Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail last week selected the “most creative cities” of the world.
Leaning on the Global Creativity Index, devised at the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, the newspaper looked at the three Ts (technology, talent and tolerance) that have made cities shine.
The Globe and Mail even went a step further, in choosing “cities that are best positioned to nurture their creative edge into the future.”
Alongside with London, Sydney, Stockholm and Shanghai, Tel Aviv made it to the top of this prestigious list.
Here are some of the reasons the people of The Globe and Mail chose Tel Aviv as one of the cities that not only excel today, but will probably continue to do so tomorrow.
“The entire population of Israel may number only 7 million – smaller than New York City – but this Middle Eastern state spends more of its GDP on research and development than any other nation.”
…Add to this the leadership qualities gained by many Israeli entrepreneurs during military service, and you get a “Start-up Nation,” like the title of the book by Dan Senor and Saul Singer, explaining Israel’s economic miracle. Is this the only reason for the success of Tel Aviv?
Steve Brearton of the Globe and Mail is not sure. However, “What we do know is that while Tel Aviv is small, it’s one giant innovation engine.”
Gil Hirsch, who splits his time between Tel Aviv and California, explained to Andrew Braithwaite of The Globe and Mail how you form start-ups in Israel: “A bunch of guys meet up, usually over beer; one of them comes up with an idea, everybody gets excited and, minutes later, there’s a company.”
This is exactly how, together with three friends, he had founded Face.com, a company whose site was quickly integrated by Facebook.
“There’s also no fear of failure here,” added Hirsch. “Just a fear of not trying.”
Even Tel Aviv’s notorious traffic jams can’t stop the surge of creativity, especially since Israeli software engineer Ehud Shabtai invented Waze, a GPS navigator that gets inputs of real-time local traffic conditions from other drivers.
And of course let’s not forget that Tel Aviv has proven irresistible to even the anti-Israel crowd.
