Plans were authorized for Darom, an innovation center in Israel’s southern city of Dimona, the municipality announced last week.
The center, a 5,000 sq.m. facility, will focus on green industry, robotics, hydrogen and fuel substitutes, industrial and renewable energy, artificial intelligence, and more, the city said.
NIS 50 million will be invested in the project by the Economy Ministry, Israel Innovation Authority, Israel Aerospace Industries, and other partners.
The center aims to be an intersection for regional knowledge and allow national and local governments to unite with academia and the private sector.
Building up Dimona
Hopefully, it will create high-quality jobs for the local population, which the city says is expanding rapidly.
Approximately 30,000 new housing units have been approved in the city in recent years, half of which have already been built and marketed, according to the municipality.
Dimona Mayor Benny Bitton called the center’s approval a development for Israel’s security, saying the center can provide solutions that minimize the country’s independence on foreign energy sources.
“The innovation center will also, of course, contribute to social mobility and encourage young innovators to join the technological revolution and be part of the change led by Dimona,” he said.
Darom manager Ran Sasson also praised the potential of the new center, saying it “will enable moving industries from place to place. Successful adoption of these technologies is expected to bring improved competition in the Israeli economy and increase worker productivity.”
He added, “The result will be improved profitability, higher wages, and renewed growth of western industry – and all this can certainly happen in the western Negev.”