At the turn of this century, Israel specialized in Internet companies. However, many of these failed and are only a memory. Typical of these was Virtual Jerusalem It was a neat project involving all aspects of Jerusalem. You could even place a prayer in the Western Wall. The company arranged a reverse merger and listed on NASDAQ. The price skyrocketed from $0.40 to $8. Investors did not heed the accountants comments that in their view the company would never make any money. Virtual Jerusalem tanked as did dozens of other Internet companies.
Replacing the Internet were security companies who found a niche in anti-terror devices. Today, there are 400 companies with total exports of $1.5 billion. Security problems will not only not disappear but most are likely to grow. One of the major issues is airport security. Another one is that of mail security where "lethal" material can easily be sent through the mails.
Some twenty years ago a company named Luz was a world leader in solar energy systems. They had the world's largest installation in California. The contracts were based on the price of oil. When oil prices dropped precipitously Luz had to close shop. However, In the past few years the number of solar energy companies has mushroomed.
Israelis are world-leaders in inventing solar energy solutions -- for today and tomorrow. Chromagen and Amcor supply most of the country's domestic solar hot water collector units.
LUZ II (a subsidiary of Brightsource Energy) plans to generate electrical power by using solar energy to convert water to superheated steam
The Solel company has the organization, the resources and the project management capabilities needed to design, manufacture and install solar fields for large scale power generation.
Solar energy israel photo Zenith Solar has developed a modular and easily scalable high concentration photovoltaic system (HCPV).
There are at least another dozen companies successfully supplying solar energy solutions.
Another prospering field, is water purification. DSE Desalination has contracted to supply Victoria's desalination plant which will be the largest in Australia, capable of supplying about one third of Melbourne's annual water needs.
It will supply up to 150 billion liters of water a year, independent of rainfall, to Melbourne, Geelong, and regional towns in South Gippsland and Western Port of Australia.