As technological advances race across the board, governments must take the initiative and create incentives for the private sector to develop what is in the national interest – or risk being left behind.
The Israeli government’s initiatives to promote development ecosystems in the cybersphere are an example of what government-led development can do for national security and the national economy.
Societies unwilling to leave their security to market forces need governments that clearly define national technological requirements and develop ways to achieve those goals.
While governments can’t force companies to research and develop anything, they can encourage them to do so through tax breaks and investments, as Israel’s Office of the Chief Scientist has been doing for more than a decade.
Often, technological progress is based on a requirement, and many of these requirements have their origins in war. For example, in World War I, mass rail transportation took on a new dimension after trains became the key to moving troops.
During the Cold War, many defense-related technological advances, such as satellite communications and global positioning systems, revolutionized the civilian world as spinoff technologies emerged later.
In the 20th century, the emergence of nuclear power from the science behind the atomic bomb solved serious energy problems for many advanced nations, especially those without oil.
It took almost forty years to develop advanced unmanned aerial vehicles to deliver real-time battlefield information, a process Israel pioneered. But today, quadcopters deliver packages and control traffic.
However, despite the many development efforts, many countries are also seeing the appearance of technologies with no clear benefits.
This deluge of technology without a guiding hand means that governments face a difficult time planning for crises – moments when they fall back on national technological advances can make the difference between successfully navigating a crisis or not.
In the year That was the thinking behind Israel’s creation of the National Cyber Directorate in 2012, after completing a process to outline what technological goals the government wants to achieve.
Unfortunately, this is not a frequent or common pattern of decision-making at the state level, especially in the West. Although states have excelled in establishing institutions and academic infrastructures, they have not fared well in terms of giving a deliberate hand to technological development.
Israel, which was a functional nation only seventy years ago, is now a technology hub that competes with the great powers, especially in boosting industries like cyber security.
In the year The same goes for Israel’s domestic defense industry, which really started to grow after the French arms embargo in 1968. Until then, Israel relied on French weapons systems.
Israel’s leadership in the development of agricultural technology is another example—and if food insecurity is a major threat to global prosperity, countries should urgently develop such technologies instead of war.
Impending climate change and disruptions to food supplies caused by events such as Russia’s war on Ukraine are threatening millions of lives. Not just hunger, but the threat that vulnerable countries face. Drought is another danger. Developing national desalination infrastructures provides countries with a shield (albeit a costly one) against such risks, as Israel has learned with its pioneering water desalination technology.
These moves require governments to take a strategic view of current and future requirements and position themselves in ways that technological advances can protect against natural or man-made disasters.
Such a leading government hand will bring huge economic benefits. When Israel established its National Cyber Directorate a decade ago, it exported hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cyber security solutions. Today, those exports exceed ten billion dollars a year—not to mention the billions spent by international companies in the domestic cyber industry. Today, that rate of growth is slowing down, but its economic and national success is still remarkable.
Looking ahead, artificial intelligence will be a major area for deliberate government-sponsored development for any country that wants to be influential and relevant in the twenty-first century. Failure to set these objectives will result in significant resources being diverted to research and development projects that may not produce tangible results at the national level.
Brigadier General Tam the chicken (IDF, ret.) is a publication. Expert as if MirYam Institute. He was a founding member of Israel’s National Cyber Directorate in the Prime Minister’s Office.
Image: Reuters
