Season two takes us inside one of the world’s biggest startup nations. With the most tech startups and venture capital per capita in the world, Israel has long been hailed as The Startup Nation. We look beyond Tel Aviv’s vibrant, liberal tech epicentre to the wider Holy Land region – the Palestinian territories, where a parallel Startup Nation story is emerging in East Jerusalem, Ramallah and the West Bank, as well as in the Israeli cybersecurity hub of Beersheba. We also learn how the fertile innovation ecosystem of Silicon Wadi has evolved as a result of its unique political, geographical and cultural situation and explore the future challenges – and solutions – these nations are facing.

Season 1 Episode 4 - Shenzhen: Reinventing 35 Years of Innovation

In the final episode of our Future Cities strand, we examine Shenzhen’s so-called "Shanzhai" (imitation) supply chain as authoritarian governmental control and hyper-accelerated gentrification are rapidly changing the face of the city. Air Date : 28th-Jun-2016

Season 1 Episode 1 - Shenzhen: The Silicon Valley of Hardware

In this first episode we take a glimpse into Huaqiangbei, the city's vast market district, and talk Moore’s Law and its impact on software vs hardware development before visiting HAX, the only hardware accelerator of its kind in the world. We also begin to explore the origins of this unique and vibrant city, and how it continues to be shaped. Air Date : 7th-Jun-2016  Read More

Season 1 Episode 2 - Shenzhen: The Maker Movement

In this second episode we take a look at how the Maker movement has been appropriated in a frenetic manufacturing hub like Shenzhen, before exploring how the city’s attitudes to open source hardware are so different to those of the West, and what this might mean for both sides of the argument in the near future. Air Date : 14th-Jun-2016  Read More

Season 1 Episode 3 - Shenzhen: A New Breed of Intellectual Property

In this third episode of our Future Cities strand, we explore how attitudes in Shenzhen about patents and intellectual property differ to those in the West. In particular, we look at how the evolution of “shanzhai” - or copycat manufacturing - has created an ecosystem that could transform traditional models of business, distribution and innovation. Although, technically, any knock-off goods can be called shanzhai, the word's meaning has recently shifted to refer to electronic goods, and episode three delves behind the scenes of this business culture. Air Date : 21st-Jun-2016  Read More

Season 1 Episode 4 - Shenzhen: Reinventing 35 Years of Innovation

In the final episode of our Future Cities strand, we examine Shenzhen’s so-called "Shanzhai" (imitation) supply chain as authoritarian governmental control and hyper-accelerated gentrification are rapidly changing the face of the city. Air Date : 28th-Jun-2016  Read More