Israel Active

I reported previously on Israel’s Humavox and its smart recharging technology. It is now promising to turn everyday places (e.g. handbags, briefcases, drawers, even toy boxes) into wireless battery chargers.

The Israeli embassy in Vietnam held a conference on hi-tech agriculture to help Vietnamese farmers. Vice Chairman of Ha Noi People’s Committee Nguyen Doan Toan praised Israel and anticipated Israeli companies would help the city develop its hi-tech agriculture sector.

I reported previously on the laser beam system to stop short-rage mortars. The project was stopped to give priority to Iron Dome. But now Israel Aerospace Industries is “at a very advanced stage,” in its development and “successful experiments have already been carried out".

I’ve reported on many Israeli startups that have developed innovative face-recognition technology. Israel’s AnyVision uses artificial intelligence (AI) to perform real-time forensic analysis of video images for pro-active threat intervention. Investors include Qualcomm and Bosch.

Israel’s (female) ambassador to Japan Yaffa Ben-Ari and Japan’s Minister of the Interior and Communications Masatoshi Ishida signed an accord in Tokyo to cooperate in research and development, information exchange, and training programs in the field of cybersecurity.

New York-based data company CB Insights named two Israeli startups in its 2019 Game Changers report of 36 international fast-growing firms that are changing the world. I reported on connected car startup Autotalks and AdVerif.ai uses AI to keep users safe from spam and malicious content.

Around 6,000 farmers in 50 previously drought-stricken villages in Hungund, India, adopted drip-irrigation from Israel’s Netafim and are enjoying a second annual harvest. The 24,000-hectare Ramthal (Marol) project has doubled their annual crop yield and reduced water consumption.

Israel provided cyber defense and cybersecurity to the end of November G20 Summit meeting in Buenos Aires. The Argentine Defense Ministry has signed a $5 million contract with Israel’s Defense Ministry for two computer security response teams.

Israel’s Technion Institute will join the EuroTech Universities Alliance of five leading European Universities on 1st January. It will pool education, research and innovation with the universities of Denmark, Lausanne, Luxembourg, Eindhoven, Munich and across the EU.

US-based XpressSAR has bought a constellation of up to four TecSAR synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites from Israel Aerospace Industries. Launching in 2022, XpressSAR will use them to monitor harbors, airfields, active volcanoes, spreading floods, oil spills and ship traffic.