A Joint Virtual Advanced Technology Incubator - A New Pattern of Israeli-Palestinian Economic Cooperation

This article proposes a new and unique framework for the promotion of cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the fields of innovation and advanced technology development. The goal is to strengthen the Palestinian Authority's economic basic structure, using the experience and know-how gained by Israel in these fields. We consider the development of a new project: a Palestine-Israel Virtual Incubator (PIVI). This project suggests a new Israeli-Palestinian cooperation pattern, in sectors and types of economic activity that are not based mostly on unskilled workers but are based instead on relatively advanced technology, including innovation, upgrading of old technologies, and high-tech activities, using the skilled workforce that already exists or is in the process of being formed in the Palestinian Authority. This project may provide a long-term catalyst for a new type of economic and scientific cooperation between Israel and Palestine, involving the US and other countries. The basic concept in our proposal is that the virtual incubator will allow high-tech and innovative firms to benefit from the expertise and professional networks of the different existing incubators, thus increasing the array of services available and exposing the companies to greater business opportunities.