El Al goes from paper to iPad
El Al Israel Airlines is starting a trial that plans to convert all flight manuals for its Boeing 777s onto iPad computers. This will save up to $560,000 a year and 40kg of paper per flight.
Growth forecasts increased
With Israel’s natural gas output from the Tamar field scheduled to commence in a few months, the government has raised 2013 GDP growth predictions from 3% to 3.5%.
Tel Aviv is world’s second best start-up centre
The Start-up Ecosystem Index 2012 report scores Tel Aviv as overall runner-up to Silicon Valley in its Global index. Here is a link to the full 160-page report.
Fresh from the farm to your table
Israeli online farmers market Farmigo aims to give Americans access to local fresh-from-harvest food, instead of the industrialized food now on their tables. Farmigo intends to fundamentally change the way food is purchased and distributed.
Training bankers in Kenya
In the eight months up to September, Israel’s Galilee International Management Institute has been formulating policies for the Kenyan Central Bank and training students from the Kenya School of Monetary Studies. Kenya asked the World Bank for help and they called in the Israelis.
Wizz-ing from Tel Aviv to Budapest
Israel’s Tourism Ministry promoted visitors between Israel and Hungary by organizing a fashion show by Frau Brau on Wizz Air’s inaugural flight between Tel Aviv and Budapest. Passengers boarding the Hungarian aircraft had no idea what awaited them.
Israeli-made glasses on-line
I once spent a fortune on a pair of foreign-made spectacles from a local optician. With IsraelOptical you choose Israel-made glasses on-line with free worldwide shipping. You can upload your own photo to see what the glasses look like on. It’s a win-win alternative – unless you’re an optician.
Sirens didn’t stop Israeli start-ups
50 Israeli start-ups opened their doors to visitors at Tel Aviv’s Open Start-up event. Despite alarms sounding, and all having to take temporary shelter, Start-up Nation didn’t slow down. Thousands of Israeli start-ups continued to function, even under missile fire. Conduit even opened a temporary child-care center so its employees could bring in their kids because schools were closed.
Amazon likes Israel
Israel is important to Amazon not just for the business it gets, but also for the technology that Israeli companies are supplying the company. Chief Technical Officer Dr Werner Vogels told reporters “There are some excellent start-ups here, especially among start-ups developing for mobile”.
Charge your battery here
Despite troubles at Better Place, Israeli Energy and Water Minister Uzi Landau inaugurated Israel’s first-ever public electric vehicle charging station in Mitzpe Ramon. Landau drove an all-electric Renault Fluence from Ra’anana to the Eilat-Eilot International Renewable Energy Conference.