What Brings VR, AR and Big Data together with diplomacy? How do countries around the world use new technology to promote their foreign relations? Is innovative diplomacy a matter of technology or approach? And can a dwindling foreign service re-invent itself and stand at the forefront of innovation?

These questions and other are at the heart of the Innovative Diplomacy Conference, organized by the Abba Eban Institute for International Diplomacy at the IDC, Herzliya.

Israel is known as the start-up nation, but is its civil service, and more specifically its foreign service, a part of it? Other countries have already adapted their diplomatic work to the 21st century, and we can see of examples of this here as well, but there’s still no comprehensive policy for this issue. The conference brought together experts from the public, business and tech sectors – those who already cracked the secret to innovation and those that are on the way there.

During the conference, the Abba Eban Institute also unveiled the first ever Diplomatic Accelerator – a new project that utilizes the start-up tools to promote civil society organizations that operate in the public diplomacy world.