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BCBUSINESS.CA APRIL 2019 BCBUSINESS 43 SCI patients struggle with an estimated 30 identiiable complications related to bladder and bowel movements, poor mus- cle control and pain management. These complications also aict people su•ering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ( ALS), mobility problems and hip fractures, as well as those stricken by stroke. By targeting a bigger population with such ailments, the joint biodesign project aims to increase its impact and its chances of commercial success, explains Barrable, who has led RHI since 2010. "We saw a huge gap in the spinal cord injury landscape," says the health and life sciences veteran, who is tall and trim and speaks with a strong, steady voice, giving him the appearance of a gen- eral mobilizing troops for battle. Leading the project is Yaakov Nahmias, director of Hebrew University's Alexander Grass Center for Bioengineering, where he co-founded and heads its world-leading biodesign medical innovation program. Within a year of its partnership with RHI, which helped identify unmet clinical needs, Nahmias's team designed, created and pat- ented two SCI-related devices that are ready for commercial development. UFree is a catheter that allows men, bedridden or in a wheelchair, to urinate painlessly and freely, with reduced blad- der infection risks. iCough is a portable, adaptive and self-handled product that lets people with SCI complications breathe and cough more easily. "We were thrilled that they came up with not one but two innova- tions that have the potential to help people with SCI," Barrable says. The next step is securing investment—by having an investor establish a new company in B.C. or –nding an existing one to acquire the patents, and to help produce, market and export the devices. "We'd like to see an incorporation in B.C. for one or both of these products," Barrable says. Doing so would boost export earnings and create high-paying jobs. But even that might not do much to improve B.C.-Israel trade and investment numbers. What else does the province hope to achieve by expanding ties with Israel? W H Y I S R A E L? The RHI biodesign e•ort represents an imperative for researchers today: produce commercially viable solu- tions with immediate real-world impact. Thanks to decades of enforced practice at survival in a geopolitically hostile region, Israel has honed that process to an art. The Israeli way combines an impatient, entrepreneurial mindset with a rigorous practical system to sort out winners in a cul- ture that demands success yet tolerates fail- ure. This knack for harnessing creativity by balancing con›icting demands, described in Dan Senor and Saul Singer's 2009 best- seller Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle, is key to innovation. The small Middle Eastern country of 8.8 million embodies the innovation econ- omy. The World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report for 2018 ranks Israel No. 1 out of 140 countries for growth of inno- vative companies and its support of entre- preneurial risk-taking. Technolo£y and innovation are central to Israel's survival, says Israel Shamay, head of the Americas division at the Israel Innova- tion Authority ( IIA). Surrounded by enemies and lacking a rich natural resources base, the country has had to rely on homegrown tech to underpin national defence and eco- nomic development. Israel's pioneers didn't use buzzwords like "innovation" and "knowledge econ- omy," but they embedded those principles into its foundation, Shamay, a soft-spoken graduate of the famed Technion–Israel Institute of Technolo£y, says during an interview in Vancouver. The research pro- cess is tough and fast-paced so that only the best products make it to mar- ket quickly. In November, on his –rst trip to B.C., Shamay met with pro- vincial government o¦cials and representatives of the private sector as part of a Canada-wide tour to expand bilateral technolo£y ties. Earlier, he was in Montreal and Ottawa, where he took part in the inaugural meeting of the Canada- Israel Bilateral Directorate for Innovation Science Technolo£y ( CIBD). The¨director- ate is co-chaired by Ailish Campbell, Cana- da's chief trade commissioner, and Danny Biran, head of the IIA's International Col- laboration Division. The IIA is the state agency tasked with overseeing Israel's industrial research and development strate£y. "Israel is home to 400 multinational companies fuelling R&D activities," Shamay says. "They are brim- ming with ener£y and ideas." The country spends big on R&D: an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) study found that in 2015, Israel invested 4.25 percent of its gross domestic product in R&D, the highest rate among the world's 34 developed countries. Israel's high-tech sector has more than 6,000 startups, many of them in the Silicon Wadi on the coastal plain. Last year, Israeli tech –rms raised a record US$6.47 billion in venture capital, up from US$5.52 billion in 2017, according to IVC Research Center, a Tel Aviv–based market intelligence –rm. The IIA now plans to expand abroad, with North America as its most important market and partner. Shamay rates B.C. highly for its political stability, an inclusive culture that is crucial for nurturing creativ- ity and innovation, and a diverse, educated population to support companies develop- ing products for export to the Americas and Asia. There's also scope to build on the recently upgraded Canada-Israel free-trade deal. "The Americas, particularly the U.S. and Canada, are a natural –t for Israel," Shamay notes. "Compared with other coun- tries, there's greater similarity in terms of culture, language and business practices." Rather than sow the seeds for future competition, he says, "If anything, the world needs greater collaboration to deal with urgent issues. Nations must put their collective minds and talents together to deal with pollution, feed the world, com- bat the warming of the oceans, plastics pollution¨and so on." TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION ARE CENTRAL TO ISRAEL'S SURVIVAL, SAYS ISRAEL SHAMAY, HEAD OF THE AMERICAS DIVISION AT THE ISRAEL INNOVATION AUTHORITY. SURROUNDED BY ENEMIES AND LACKING A RICH NATURAL RESOURCES BASE, THE COUNTRY HAS HAD TO RELY ON HOME- GROWN TECH TO UNDERPIN NATIONAL DEFENCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

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