Bloomberg Foundation Launches Israeli Innovation Hub Network

Bloomberg Philanthropies has partnered with the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation and Israel’s Ministry of the Interior to launch a new network of innovation hubs, called Hazira, in Israel, the parties announced Wednesday.

Each Hazira location will get a chief innovation officer who will work alongside a team of city employees on a dedicated project, with each city deciding its own specific project based on the mayor’s recommendations, according to a statement. The network will include Bloomberg’s existing innovation teams in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Be’er Sheva, and is expected to expand to 12 additional cities throughout Israel over the next five years, according to a statement.

The financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed.

Bloomberg Philanthropies, the foundation belonging to former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, invests in 510 cities in 129 countries around the world. In 2018, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed $767 million, according to the foundation’s statement.