Israel is a peculiar nation. Surrounded by hostile Arab countries, whether in an ancient region like Palestine, it is unsurprising that it is a rather complex geopolitical situation. Furthermore, unlike the region’s countries, small oil reserves do not inherently make Israel a global power, a status that countries such as Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates can to some extent attain without rights that do much to that’s why. What is really intrigued is how a country in these conditions manages to be a world reference in terms of technology and science.

Perhaps the answer is mirrored in a delightful story told in the book Startup Nation, by Dan Senor and Saul Singer. One day, a charismatic small-time entrepreneur named Shaked approached the then-president of Paypal, a payments giant. The meeting served to present a product, which was nothing more than software that would allow fraud detection. But Paypal was the market leader, very sophisticated and paid some of the best engineers in the world for the systems they developed, so Shvat’s small company shouldn’t have been any good. To test or test Paypal one hundred to the company of Shvat thousand companies not first, finding that so soon to speak of Shvat. Four days later, Shvat got the results of his analysis, and, to the amazement of most Paypal engineers, a Shvat company was able to produce more accurate results quickly. How will that be possible? It’s just that Shvat came to make the main machine, to trim a unit where the function was terrorist. For this to be trained to develop a failed system, a pressure that has not turned out as good as the market leaders.

This story serves to demonstrate how a small nation in a difficult geopolitical situation can kill two important birds with one stone, investing in technology with application in defense. On the one hand, lagging employees are prepared for a threat that, being most of the time. On the other hand, with the help of an entrepreneurial mindset for children, they were able to transform themselves into application innovations, to transform Israel into an entrepreneurial spirit. axle Technology that provides the world with products of enormous quality, which creates added value and thus manages to sustain an economy. Or obvious solution being power support, the same manufacturers, who would be able to have the future if they were innovators, and because they would have to be the United States if they were innovators, and who would be used today as a nation and very exposed certainly poorer weapons bought decades ago for nothing today. This, of course, that Israel would still exist as. Israel is thus a success story that had everything to fail.

With the Ukraine-Russia threat close to an outbreak, it seems that we have awakened in Portugal to the importance of keeping a defense prepared. In this context, employees can be an inspiration to us with their synergy between sectors. Why? Portugal has a maritime economic zone (ZEE) that is one of the largest in the world, and it even intends to expand. Now, if we want to maintain sovereignty over such a large area, we cannot hold ourselves back. This should immediately imply an investment in defense, even in order to reduce the degree of dependence on military alliances such as NATO. However, Portugal will hardly be as rich as the richest, so all the means acquired will always be meager. There is plenty of this option: the commitment to innovation, technological solutions with the Portuguese seal, proposed to our needs. Thus, in a first instance, a strategy of this kind will be developed by an officer of the naval and official companies. Then, if things go well (read, with the appropriate risk incentives), as in the example given, the knowledge acquired will not only be in the military sphere. Instead of the naval and military industry leaving directly spin-offs that transform these innovations into civil applications, namely into products with high added value. In addition, they will be contracted, as energy possibilities may be possible, as a subsequent development of the various companies, electronics, mechanics, end, fisheries, etc. will be plausible. Almost a foreigner, Portugal is a poor country, because in theory it will be possible to adapt as bets to the needs of the world, because evidently an investor only puts money in what has the potential to succeed.

The economic potential of all this is brutal! With a global strategic strategy, we are looking at something capable of making capital, brains, and not what is capable of transforming Portugal both from the sector and into a talent hub where many will feel encouraged to work. We are, finally, facing something that can Portugal to another dignified level. More: we did not start from scratch, as our Academy is already among the best in the world when it comes to the sea (for example, the University of Lisbon is considered the 6th best in the world in the area of ​​maritime and ocean engineering, according to the reputed Shanghai ranking).

Half a dozen centuries ago, faced with difficulties, the Portuguese turned to the sea, in a semantically ironic way that was a real lifeline. Today, many things in the world are different, but we are back to having a stagnant economy sighing for innovation. the machines, salesman-military, unearth-shape very intelligent. We won’t be in such trouble, one day we will be. It is, therefore, time for relevant powers, the Armed Forces, the University, and civil societies themselves, to design a strategy that takes advantage of these still underexplored potentialities of our inherent potential in our country. Finally, it’s time for the Rediscoveries!