One of the biggest generators of new product development (Ch.5) has been global terrorism. And one of the biggest exporters of domestic security technology has been Israel. The Orlando Sentinel just reported (Dec.5,2010) that more than 400 Israeli companies export $1.5 billion annually ( a number predicted to grow exponentially), with such products as biometric devices, anti-intrusion systems, airport screening machines, explosive detectors, 
and remote-controlled vehicles.
Israel is focusing on Brazil, which plans to spend $3 billion on security for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics, and on India whose internal security budget tops $1 billion a year.
Here are just a few of the products you may not have heard of:
Magal Security Systems’ perimeter-intrusion systems at 11 airports in China.
Nice Systems’ data analysis and surveillance systems at the Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, Bank of America, and NYC Police Dept.
MagShoe, a machine operated in airports in Europe and Australia to detect weapons in shoes without passengers having to remove their footware.
IntuView’s document-scanning software that not only translates Arabic text, but searches for key words, including names, dates and Quranic verses commonly cited by extremists. One customer is the US Army.
WeCU Technologies’ camera-monitored airport kiosks, which are designed to detect “malicious intent” of users by tracking facial expressions, stress levels, breath/heart rate, and sweating.
As I mentioned in my blog on Sept. 21st about the book A Start Up Nation, Israel cannot compete with mass-production countries such as the US and China, so Israeli firms need to be creative in new product development.
Discussion questions:
1. Why is new product development so important to every company?
2. Why does Israel have more high-tech firms listed on Nasdaq than any other country?
3. How will terrorism continue to provide the need for OM solutions?