Israel Active

The largest annual cybersecurity event in the world outside the US, Cybertech 2019, is coming back to Tel Aviv (Jan 28-30).  The event at the Expo Tel Aviv is expected to draw some 15,000 attendees from over 80 countries.  It will feature hundreds of hi-tech startups and organizations.

A visit to Israel’s largest desalination and wastewater-treatment plants reveals smart technologies and policies to keep the water running. Just as well, as five years into a severe drought, Israel is constantly inventing and implementing practical solutions to a problem that is not entirely solvable.

I’ve reported previously on the flywheel battery technology of Israel’s Chakratec. Ilan Ben-David, CEO of Chakratec, was interviewed on ILTV about the new system that enables super-fast electric vehicle charging anywhere, in just 20 minutes.

I reported previously on Israel’s Adasky and its high-resolution infrared sensor for autonomous vehicles. Italian car parts supplier Magneti Marelli (now owned by Japan’s Calsonic Kansei) is to integrate the sensor both in the car’s headlights as well as the front grille of the vehicle.

The UK’s Ordnance Survey (OS) mapping agency is using state-of-the-art systems made by Israeli-based Mobileye to map UK roads in advance of smart cities and driver-less cars. OS vehicles fitted with Mobileye cameras will record vast amounts of high-precision data on Britain’s road network.

BlueGreen Water Technologies, founded by Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Dr. Moshe Harel, has developed Lake Guard treatment for algae bloom - a massive US problem. Approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency it safely kills cyanobacteria, revitalizing the water in just a few days.

Instead of mapping every single building, Israel’s Navin turns the smartphone into a mapping device. It enables people to find their way in every hospital, shopping mall, airport and train station. Navin generates data points using shared sensors of every nearby smartphone with the app.

Israeli startup SeeTree is launching a new service that will provide crop growers with “deep insights” into the health and productivity of every one of their trees. SeeTree takes high-resolution 3D images using drones, plus ground sensors and samples to identify diseases and precise irrigation needs.

The World Bee Project has launched a pilot to study honeybees in Israel, the UK and Ireland. They have fitted a beehive on top of Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Shopping Center with solar-powered, Internet-linked sensors to record temperature, moisture levels and sound.

The European Research Council has granted 14 million Euros to Israel to build 10 shoebox-sized satellites for analyzing small clouds and their role in the climate. The mission is named CloudCT, inspired by medical CT (computed tomography) used to map the interior of a patient.