I noticed an interesting advertisement in my e-mail inbox the other day, coming via the Jerusalem Post. The advertiser was the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute, in cooperation with the Israeli government.

“Come and support the Israeli business arena”, it was titled. Israel is gaining a reputation as a center for world-class professional services, it claimed, and it wanted me to consider outsourcing to Israel. It offered this information:

10 Reasons to Outsource to Israel

1. A critical mass of fluent English speakers. Multilingual capabilities include Arabic, Russian, French and German.
2. Cultural affinity with the U.S. Many Israelis are educated and receive professional certification in the U.S.
3. Track record of successful business partnerships with U.S. companies.
4. State-of-the-art information and communications technology infrastructure.
5. A tech-savvy, educated, talented and dedicated workforce. Israel enjoys the highest ratio worldwide of engineers in the workforce and the highest ratios in the world of university degrees and academic publications per capita.
6. Entrepreneurial spirit. Israel is one of the largest centers in the world for start-up enterprises.
7. Competitive pricing.
8. Fast turnaround. Reliable deliveries. Open for business 365 days a year.
9. Company representative in the U.S. available at your convenience.
10. Compatible legal system and intellectual property protection.

It’s no surprise to see that the government of Israel realizes the implications of the global outsourcing boom and is taking steps to support it. After all, Israel does have a vibrant tech sector, attracting the likes of Microsoft, Intel, and Google. Indeed, most governments acknowledge that the surest way for increased economic prosperity is to get their citizens onto the Internet.

The institute provided a website that features Israeli businesses across a number of different categories. The site is very basic, and just lists contact information and a brief description for the businesses. How you work together from there remains a mystery and is likely different from one service provider to the next.

Outsourcing to Israel or anywhere else is certainly not as accessible as it could or should be. Making this process easier and more effective is where Woven comes in. In this era of globalization, as the world is ever more connected and borders matter less, there is a critical need for a real focus on the tools that enable people to find each other and work together effectively.