This morning, I read in the Hebrew press that Will.i.am’s smartwatch, owned by  the Black Eyed Peas frontman, has hooked up with ai.Type. This is an Israeli start up, based on a small farm and that specialises in keyboards for mobiles. This added capacity is supposed to enable the watch to compete with the likes of Apple and others.

Interesting as that is, what followed was quite phenomenal. I attended a conference at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem that highlighted how established conglomerates are deliberately seeking Israeli innovation.

I was particularly interested in the talk by Dr. Dan Eldar, the Executive Director of Hutchinson Water, the Hong Kong multinational. In one of his opening points, he stressed how Hutchinson deliberately chose Israel to be its global centre for water innovation. This recent video explains why.

Eldad highlighted Israel’s Sorek desalination recycling plant, which is one of the largest in the world. Its capacity is such that water is not just supplied to the Palestinian Authority. Water is also ‘exported’ to Jordan, whose resources are further stretched at the moment following the heavy influx of refugees from Syria.

Eldar was followed by Professor Uriel Levy of the Hebrew University’s Nanotechnology Centre. In 2015 alone, this complex was responsible for launching eight start ups. In total, they have applied for nearly 450 patents, and still counting.

One story that captivated me is a capsule that can be lodged in large electricity boxes. If there is a short circuit or other problem, a gas will be emitted. The capsule will detect the dangerous change and set off an alarm. Simple. Discovered by an electrical engineer? No way! A chemistry professor was working on a pharmaceutical project and simply injected a touch of entrepreneurial thinking. (Ironically, one mobile provider in Israel crashed last week, because of this very reason)

The examples of innovation flew in thick and fast, especially when discussing 3D printing. Lego in Denmark uses about 60 different colours of paint. From tomorrow, the toy giant may need to order just black and let technology do the rest. And so on.

Kudos to the organisers of this conference. And for those who view Jerusalem as just a metropolis for religious tourism, think again. The holy city is again beginning to change the world, this time with a stunning catalogue of innovative ideas.