Israel Active

Of the 340,000 patents filed in the US in 2018, almost 5,000 (1.44%) originated with Israel inventors. Numbers of Israeli patents has been rising steadily over the past 15 years. Back in 2004, Israeli-linked patents filed accounted for 0.68% of all patents in the U.S.

Dozens of Israeli startups will be presenting at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (25 – 28 Feb 2019) They have solutions for telecom service providers, equipment vendors, smart device manufacturers; automotive, smart home, smart city and finance enterprises and users.

“The Israeli Expo,” an exhibition showcasing 50 Israeli startups has opened at the innovation center at Tel Aviv’s Peres Center for Peace & Innovation. They focus on artificial intelligence, IT, digital health, ag-tech, and cybersecurity. The exhibition will be updated on a yearly basis.

Savills real estate agency rated Tel Aviv 18th in their list of the world’s best high-tech cities. High spots included air passenger growth, startups per capita, talent pool, population growth and co-working rental cost.

The prestigious Blavatnik Awards recognizes Israeli scientists 42 or younger conducting “breakthrough research” in life sciences, chemistry, physics or engineering. This year Weizman’s Michal Rivlin and Erez Berg and Technion’s Moran Bercovici won $100,000 each.

In 2016, Anières (Naale) Elite Academy launched “Aeronautics in the Valley” - an enrichment program to teach high-school students the basics of aerospace engineering. Today, 15 graduates are in the Technion’s academic reserve program, before joining the Israeli Air Force as engineers.

Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and BGN Technologies, (technology transfer company of Ben-Gurion University) are to conduct joint research in cybersecurity, smart mobility, robotics and artificial intelligence. The first projects are on cyber threats to sensors in autonomous vehicles.

I reported previously on Israel’s Kornit and its digital garment-printing systems. Kornit has just launched the Kornit Atlas - a heavy-duty system for super-industrial garment decoration businesses producing up to 350,000 impressions per year.

Eurofins Agro UK is partnering with Israel’s SCIO and its hand-held, connected smart sensor, to launch an advanced on-farm feed analysis solution. SCiO provides farmers with real-time insight into silage requirements. The cloud-based system then adjusts for forecast rain, snow etc.

A mildew epidemic has devastated sweet basil crops all over the world. Researchers from Bar-Ilan University and specialists at Israel’s Genesis Seeds have developed a disease-resistant sweet basil with the trademark “Prospera”. Israel exports $40 million worth of basil to Europe, Russia & US each year.