Israeli Cyberpower: The Unfinished Development of the Start-up Nation?
Israel’s economic success in the cyber sector is undeniable. It is due to the development of an ecosystem encouraging the mastery of digital innovation.
It is supported by proactive digital diplomacy and underpinned by unmatched military cybercapabilities in the region. However, its rapid growth exposes structural weaknesses from an economic point of view and raises questions about the role that Israeli democracy seeks to play on the world stage.
This content is available in French: La cyberpuissance israélienne : l’essor inachevé de la start-up nation ?
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Israeli Cyberpower: The Unfinished Development of the Start-up Nation?
Author(s)
Jean-Christophe NOËL
Associate Research Fellow, Security Studies Center, Ifri
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Artificial intelligence (AI), 5G, cybersecurity, robotics, semiconductors, space... Technology, especially in the digital domain, is now deeply affecting all human activities and, by extension, international relations. The resulting political, strategic, economic and social issues manifest themselves at multiple political scales involving states, international organizations and private companies. The dynamics of international competition and cooperation are transformed.
It is to respond to these challenges that Ifri is launching the Geopolitics of Technology program in the fall of 2020, which builds on the work it already carried out on these subjects for several years.
The program takes a resolutely European approach to international issues related to so-called critical technologies. Its work is organized around four cross-cutting themes:
- Power: redistributions of power caused by new technologies, in particular digital; military and dual innovations; transformations of international competition;
- Sovereignty: definition of critical infrastructures and technologies; industrial and innovation policies in strategic sectors; opportunities and risks associated with international value chains;
- Governance: ethical and legal issues; interactions between companies, states, international organizations and users; public-private partnerships and GovTech;
- Society: political and social impacts of technological innovations; risks and opportunities for the future of work, health, the fight against climate change; connectivity and economic development.
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