Cities worldwide face similar challenges - traffic, public safety and maintaining a high quality of life. A top concern always is maintaining a healthy economy in an increasingly global world so communities can afford superior services citizens expect.
Thus, the opportunity to learn from one other is a major impetus behind international twinned cities initiatives that more communities are using to explore best practices.
Recently, a six-person delegation from Sandy Springs capped a seven-day visit to Israel’s Western Galilee Cluster, 11 communities that are an emerging Middle East high-tech and medical technology center.
Israel is a rapidly becoming a high-tech start-up center driven in part by the precarious nature of its neighborhood. Innovation is crucial in a country threatened daily within and without.
Simultaneously, Israel’s entrepreneurs are eager to partner with American businesses to bring their products to the worldwide marketand they appreciate our area’s rich technological know-how. Not only does our region feature world-renown universities like Georgia Tech, UGA and Emory, but within 90 miles we have two other major engineering schools packed with Georgia expatriates: Auburn and Clemson. The world is highly interested in sharing this deep pool of intellectual capital.
During our trip, we focused on three key areas of cooperation: high-tech innovation; medical technology/healthcare interaction; and tourism.
In healthcare, the West Galilee Medical Center, a world-renown mass casualty facility, features a full, underground ERso the hospital can safely manage large-scale emergencies even if under direct attack. The staff gave us an overview of their emergency preparedness program, leading us through hardened above-ground treatment areas and an underground ER with sophisticated filters to remove chemical or biological agents that may contaminate the environment. These advanced facilities can also cope with highly-infectious situations like Ebola patients.
It was an eye-opening look at the lengths the hospital has taken to ensure it can respond to disasters and gave us insights we can apply in our local emergency response.
Nearby, another facility gave us a glimpse at several futuristic medical technologies, including a life-changing exo-skeleton system that allows wheelchair-bound individuals to walk.
We toured Tefen, a 667-acre mountaintop industrial complex and met with its mayor, Yigal Zafati. Zarfati has an interesting situation: He doesn’t have a single resident in his town. His only constituents are space-age manufacturing facilities, including ISCAR (owned by Warren Buffett), which operates a cutting-edge campus that relies primarily on robotic assembly equipment. Unlike traditional manufacturing, the facilities are clean, quietand the streets are uncongested since the city relies almost exclusively on mass transit.
Despite these fascinating wonders, the greatest benefit for our group was establishing new relationships that will connect our city to a group of Israeli communities with similar goals, aspirations and needs.
My predecessor Eva Galambos launched our Sister City program with Taicang in China and we, with North Springs High School, hosted a group of Chinese students in early October.
Now, we are linked to an area that, while on its nation’s periphery, gives us a beachhead in an emerging high-tech, medical technology and tourist destination. Besides gleaning from the region’s groundbreaking expertise, we hope our citizens who visit Israel will add the Western Galilee to their itinerary. It has ancient sites and modern marvels that are definitely worth a couple of vacation days.
Next year, we will host delegates from the Western Galilee and expose them to the Sandy Springs “wow” factor. Already, they have agreed to use Sandy Springs and Hartsfield Jackson International Airport as their gateway to the U.S. They understand the technology-rich environment we offer and our plan is to continue exploring opportunities with our new friends to broaden our horizons and enrich our mutual quality of life during the five-year duration of this initial phase of Sister Cityhood.
Rusty Paul is mayor of Sandy Springs.
