Jerusalem, Haifa, Tel Aviv - Israel: May 2013
"Enterpreneurship and Innovation in Israel"
Faculty Leader: Gal Raz
Academic Program
The GBE to Israel will run in May 2013. The course combines experiential learning with academic lectures / cases in class with a special focus on hands-on experience. The focus of the Israel GBE is on entrepreneurship and innovation in Israel centering on the High Tech Sector in Israel and innovation in a variety of areas from information technology, medical and bio-tech to clean technology, water and sustainability. As part of the course the students visit local businesses such as ISCAR (bought in 2006 by Warren Buffett for $4B in Buffett's first major acquisition of a company outside of the US), Netafim Inc. (The world’s largest water drip irrigation manufacturer), Better Place (The global provider of electric vehicles), and many others. The students also visit the Israeli parliament and meet with members of parliament and government officials from the ministry of industry, trade and labor, the chief scientist office, the foreign Ministry, and the ministry of finance. Lastly, the course will include visits to historical sights, and discussion of Israeli society and politics in the middle east. As part of the program the students will conduct a hands-on project where they will be paired with an Israeli start-up company and work with them to help with their strategy to penetrate the US market. The program runs in collaboration with the Israeli Institute of Technology (The Technion).
Unlike other GBEs that 1.5 credits, the course will be taught as part of a three week 3-credit condensed experience in May following the end of the first year curriculum. The 3 credits will consist of a 1.5 credit for the elective course “Global Innovation and Technology Commercialization” that will run co-requisite with the GBE Israel (where the students get the other 1.5 GBE credit) so students will have to take both courses. The first half will be done on grounds in Charlottesville (communicating with the companies via video conference), while the second one will include the field trip to Israel. The project will commence at the beginning of the course and include three stages: company and market research, analysis, and recommendations and business plan. The first two stages will be conducted during the stay at Darden, while the last stage will be in Israel ending with final presentations to the companies at the end of the course in Israel. The course will be capped at 35 students. During their time in Israel, the students will visit local businesses and incubators and meet with government officials developing an understanding of the lessons that can be learned from the innovation revolution in Israel.