It is 40 years since Intel first opened up in Israel. Its fabs have turned out microprocessors like the Centrino that can be found in homes and offices around the globe, including the Middle East. Factor in the investments made by Cisco (through NDS), Goggle (via Waze) or even the multiple purchases of IBM and you realize how billions of people are benefitting from Holy Land tech – wittingly or not, willingly or not.

News of the past week reveals just how the world continues to lap up these technological talents.

1) The Hebrew press is reporting that the CEO of Technicolor, Frederic Rose, sees Israel as its next new fishing ground for resources. The plans include a meet-up with 100 local media companies.

2) Several stages further ahead is defence conglomerate Lockheed Martin. Together with data storage equipment maker EMC, “they plan to jointly invest in advanced technology projects at a tech park in Beersheba….. to explore research and development projects in cloud computing, data analytics and cyber technologies.” This is expected to deliver hundreds of new jobs to the desert economy of the south.

3) Facebook has made it clear for sometime that it intends to be active in Israel. By April 2014, it will have established an r&d operations near the Diamond Exchange near Tel Aviv. Part of its sales operation will be transferred from Ireland to Israel.

4) Mexico’s Carlos Slim, considered the world’s wealthiest tycoon, has not allowed himself to miss out. He has two sealed two purchases over the past twelve months. worth tens of millions. His son is expected in Israel over the next few days to review the next potential crop.

5) The bottom line is that 2013 was the best year for a decade for investment in Israeli high-tech, as US$2.3 billion flowed in. Of that, 76% can be attributed to overseas capital, easily passing the previous high of 73%.

For a country of only 8 million people, Israel certainly provides a big bang for its buck. It is difficult to imagine a world without all these technologies.