Sport-tech diplomacy: exploring the intersections between the sport-tech ecosystem, innovation, and diplomacy in Israel
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CASE STUDY
Sport‑tech diplomacy: exploring the intersections between the sport‑tech ecosystem, innovation, and diplomacy in Israel Yoav Dubinsky1 Revised: 27 July 2020 / Accepted: 29 October 2020 © Springer Nature Limited 2020
Abstract The purpose of this article is to explore and discuss the role of the growing sport-tech ecosystem and the branding of Israel as a start-up nation in the country’s sports diplomacy. When analysing Israel’s deteriorating image, scholars and practitioners recommended to focus the country’s branding and diplomatic efforts on micro-marketing and in creating bypassing messages to the Israeli–Arab dispute. While other countries manage to use sports for such purposes, international politics often limited Israel’s possibilities. Being the number one country in the world in start-ups per capita, and having a growing sporttech ecosystem used by some of the biggest international sport-related organizations, embody new opportunities especially in the context of “sport-tech diplomacy”. The article is significant as it contributes to existing literature on the branding of Israel as a “start-up nation”, on Israel’s sports diplomacy, and on public diplomacy and soft power through exploring the intersections of technology, innovation, sports, and diplomacy, using the term “sport-tech diplomacy”. Keywords Public diplomacy · Nation branding · Israel · Sport-tech · Innovation
Introduction The purpose of this article is to discuss the growing sporttech ecosystem and the branding of Israel as a start-up nation (Senor & Singer 2009) in the country’s sports diplomacy. In the bestseller book Start-up nation: The story of Israel’s economic miracle (Senor and Singer 2009), authors Dan Senor and Saul Singer, discuss the innovative DNA of the State of Israel and Jewish people. In the context of business, innovation is defined as “the process by which ideas are transformed into new products and services that will help firms grow” (Grewal and Levy 2021, p. 276). Senor and Singer describe the creation of the state of Israel, its survival in difficult political and weather conditions, and it is thriving industry as an “economic miracle”. Israel’s image has been often associated with an armed conflict (Avraham 2009; Gilboa 2006). Some countries have been using sports to try and * Yoav Dubinsky [email protected] 1
improve the country’s image through nation branding and public diplomacy (Anholt 2010; Murray 2018). Although sports and physical activities are rooted in Israel’s history and in the image change of Jewish people and Zionism (Harif 2011; Kaufman and Galily 2009), the Israeli–Arab dispute often manifested through hosting and participating in local and international competitions, limiting some branding opportunities (Dart 2016; Dubinsky and Dzikus 2018). Several scholars argue that to improve that image, Israel should find a bypassing message to the conflict, such as focusing on its highly developed technological ecosystem (Avraham 2009; Gilboa 2006). In his PhD dissertation “Israel’s use of sports fo
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