My in-depth feature on Israel’s quest to create its own Silicon Valley included images of Jerusalem, Ben Gurion University, and the southern Negev desert where Israel is staking its future economic hopes. I have a lot more photos than the ones in the article so I’ve gathered the best ones into this gallery.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
From the moment you arrive in Israel you start seeing young people on their smartphones, like this guy in the Tel Aviv airport. That’s fitting since elements of the first cellphones were created by Motorola’s R&D lab in Israel.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
The walls of the Old City of Jerusalem have seen so much history and destruction and triumph that it is remarkable to consider everything that has happened here and all the people who have shared in that history.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
The smoothness of the giant old stones you walk on in Jerusalem make you realize how many hundreds of millions of people have walked these same paths before you stepped foot there.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
The Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock are sacred sites to Jews and Muslims, respectively, and they sit so close together.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
Even the street signs in the Old City impress how old this place is.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
The markets that crowd the Old City have a strange mix of the modern and ancient.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
My friends from the southern United States will appreciate this nod to them from one of the open air shops in the Old City.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
These were some of the most vibrant colors among the street vendors in the Old City.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
This young guy was taking advantage of the Old City’s hills to glide his cart of produce down to a shop nearby.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
This was one of many interesting little nooks beside or behind the shops in the Old City. This one in particular was in the Arab quarter. It looks like it’s someone’s residence or office behind their shop.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
This is the inside dome of one of the sections of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
This is looking out of the Old City to the hills of Jerusalem. I like the modern contrast of the the kids’ playground set.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
I discovered this ancient-looking cave while walking through the middle of a park on the way to the Old City.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
These residences face the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. They are quite modern but the architecture has been made to blend into the Old City.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
The pioneering Intel researchers in Israel designed the 8088 processor in the first PC, the Pentium processor that helped popularize PCs, the Centrino process that helped launch laptops, and the multicore processors that have fueled Intel’s growth in recent years. The building above is Intel’s LEED certified research center in Haifa, one of several Intel research centers in Israel. Other tech giants including Cisco, Microsoft, Google, Apple, IBM, Oracle, SAP, EMC, Motorola, HP, Facebook, and eBay also operate research centers in Israel.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Intel
Major S of the Israeli air force stands with one of the UAVs from the squadron he commands. You can learn his story in my article.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
This is one of many palm trees on the campus of Ben Gurion University in Be’er Sheva, Israel, which is where Israel is pinning its future hopes of a technology epicenter.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
Here’s the entrance to the main campus of BGU.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
The official name of the school is Ben Gurion University of the Negev, since Be’er Sheva is the cultural and administrative capital of the Negev desert in southern Israel.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
Despite being in the desert, the BGU campus has fertile signs everywhere.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
Israelis are master water conservers. They re-use over 70% of their waste water, more than any other country in the world (Spain is second at about 20%).
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
Most of Israel’s waste water is re-used for growing crops, but you can see evidences of at least a little bit being put to use to beatify the BGU campus.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
BGU’s award-winning Automated Guided Vehicle System (AGVS) is completely self-contained and automated with technology that goes beyond Google’s famous driverless cars. In fact, the Israeli government has already taken the concept and used it to build 8-10 of these vehicles with high-end cameras. They are being used to help patrol the country’s borders.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
BGU’s proudest new creation (and the central subject of our special report) is the Advanced Technology Park, which is going to connect academia, the technology industry, and the Israeli Defense Forces into a symbiotic ecosystem to enhance the future of cybersecurity. This photo is of Building #1, which opened on September 3.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: BGU
Here’s a photo of the ATP under construction. Notice the high-speed train station that runs right between the campus and the ATP and can whisk students, faculty, and IDF members to other parts of Israel.
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Image credit: BGU
This future rendition of the ATP shows the rest of the future commercial buildings and also provides a good look at the walking bridge that connects the ATP to the main campus of BGU.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: BGU
I never got tired of the many different gorgeous views of the Negev desert from BGU’s satellite campus at Sde Boker. This satellite campus is especially known for its work in solar energy.
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Image credit: Jason Hiner
One of the things that BGU is already known for is its research on solar energy. Here, Dr. David Faiman explains some of that research to journalists. The solar dish on the left was once the largest solar panel in the world.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
These sun rays shining down on the Negev provide an indication of why solar research is such a big deal here.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
Despite all of the sun and heat, there are still touches of green in the Negev.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
Here in Sde Boker, the journalists in my small group couldn’t help but snap lots of photos of the scenario in the Negev.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
Due to a mixture of high-tech and low-tech advances, the Israelis have turned the Negev into the only desert in the world that is currently receding. They are sharing this knowledge with other countries that are concerned about desertification.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
Another one of the wonders of the Negev is Ramon Crater, which is south of Be’er Sheva. This is a view of it at sunset from Mitzpe Ramon on the northern edge.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
Here’s another view of the Ramon Crater during daylight, from the hotel that sits on the crater’s edge.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
The Negev desert is not like the deserts you see in the movies. It’s more like an ancient gravel driveway.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
This is one of those signs that reminds you that you’re not in the U.S. anymore.
Read the special report: How Israel is rewriting the future of cybersecurity and creating the next Silicon Valley
Image credit: Jason Hiner
Jason Hiner is Editorial Director of CNET and former Editor in Chief of TechRepublic. He's co-author of the book, Follow the Geeks.
