Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS)
The predecessor body to the Israel Innovation Authority. Administered Israeli government R&D grants and technology-sector programs until reorganized as the IIA in 2016.
The OCS — established in 1965 — was the primary instrument through which the Israeli government funded private-sector R&D for five decades. Programs administered by the OCS over that period included the Magnet consortium framework, the bilateral BIRD Foundation co-funding mechanism with the United States, the incubator program for early-stage technology companies, and the direct R&D-grant track that became the model for grant-to-royalty obligations now embedded in IIA architecture.
The 2016 reorganization elevated the OCS into the IIA as a standalone statutory authority with broader operational autonomy and an expanded mandate covering applied research, sector programs, and international cooperation. The OCS designation is retained in historical references, in academic and policy literature on Israeli technology policy, and in references to the foundational grants that seeded a substantial share of the Israeli technology base.
Read Next in The Olam
- IIA — The Israel Innovation Authority, the successor body
- IIA Grant — The grant program structure inherited from the OCS
- Grant-to-Royalty Obligation (IIA) — The royalty mechanism originating in OCS-era programs
- Magnet Consortium — A flagship OCS-era cooperative R&D structure now run by the IIA