Israel Active

The Aurora, a seedless papaya from Israel, was crowned winner of the Fruit Logistica Innovation Award (FLIA) 2015. It began as an accidental mutation which breeder Assaf Avizohar spent 12 years developing hybrids with better taste and color.

Israel has invested 2 billion Shekels ($505 million) in its firefighting service since the 2010 Carmel forest fire. Hundreds of new firefighters helped reduce average response times from 14 minutes in 2010 to six minutes in 2015. There were 70 fatalities in 2010; 23 in 2011; 17 in 2013 and 9 in 2015.

Fast Company magazine has included Glide - Israel’s mainstream video messaging app - in their Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Video list (#7). Glide was specifically recognized for its efforts to "provide a social communication tool for the deaf community."

One of the companies showcasing at the Mobile World Congress is Israel’s Ceragon and its 5G wireless backhaul technologies. Commercial 5G services are expected to begin by 2020, bringing increased capacity, the Internet of Things (IoT) and machine to machine (M2M) solutions.

The largest mobile expo in the world – the annual GSMA Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona - showcased 2,100 companies, including a delegation of over 100 Israeli high-tech companies in the field of mobile solutions and apps.

Israel-based Megalim Solar Power is building the tallest solar tower in the world at Ashalim, in the Negev desert. 50,000 computer-controlled mirrors will focus solar rays onto the 787-foot tower producing, when the project is complete, 121 megawatts, to cover 1% of Israel’s electricity needs.

The US Department of Defense is one of the sponsors of Israel’s 2016 Combating Terrorism Through Technology challenge program. Two $100,000 prizes will be awarded for innovative technologies that could help combat terrorism or homeland security.

In the Flagship Smartphones Battery Life Challenge in China, the Meizu PRO5 with PowerXtend from Israel’s Lucidlogix was running gaming programs 16 mins after all other screens went dark. It beat the Nexus 6P (3.5hrs), Huawei Mate8 (6.2hrs) and the iPhone6s Plus (6.75hrs).

Israeli startup OwnBackup is the first graduate of this year’s Microsoft Ventures Israel’s Accelerator to receive funding - $3.5 million in fact. OwnBackup provides a data backup and fast recovery service to companies using 3rd party services in the Internet Cloud.

Israeli startup Subflex builds cages for the planned offshore fish farms near Ashdod, that I reported on previously . The submersible, flexible net cage systems will allow for the managed raising of fish in the ocean, providing large, locally grown harvests that will help lower the cost of fish.