Israeli Expert: Azerbaijan Poised to Become Gateway for Israeli Technology in Central Asia
Israeli Expert: Azerbaijan Poised to Become Gateway for Israeli Technology in Central Asia
Publish Date: 2026-06-23 04:02:00
Source Domain: caspianpost.com
Jerusalem has emerged as one of Israel’s leading innovation hubs, successfully connecting universities, startups, investors and public institutions into a single ecosystem. At the center of this effort are organizations dedicated to fostering cooperation, promoting entrepreneurship and strengthening the city’s global innovation profile.
In an interview with The Caspian Post, Michael Mizrahi, a leading expert in academic-industry cooperation and structural innovation ecosystems in Jerusalem, spoke about the mechanisms behind the city’s innovation success, opportunities for expanding Azerbaijan-Israel cooperation, and the potential role of Azerbaijan as a regional technology hub.
– Mr. Mizrahi, Jerusalem has successfully connected universities, startups, investors and government institutions. Which specific mechanism has been the most effective in creating this collaboration?
– One of the most successful mechanisms has been the creation of a central umbrella organization called Made in Jerusalem, which brings together the city’s innovation ecosystem under a single framework.
Its work is based on three key principles: collecting, connecting and branding.
The first step was collecting information about the ecosystem. Before building collaboration, you need to know who the players are. The organization mapped startups, incubators, accelerators, co-working spaces, universities, investors and other innovation stakeholders operating in Jerusalem.
The second step was connecting these actors. Once the ecosystem was mapped, sector-focused communities and events were established in areas such as cybersecurity, gaming and health technologies. These platforms created opportunities for entrepreneurs, researchers, investors and public institutions to interact and collaborate.
The third pillar was branding. Jerusalem wanted to position itself as a global innovation center. A comprehensive public awareness and marketing campaign was launched to raise the…
