Israel Active

Israel’s Knesset building now has the largest solar field for any parliament in the world. 1,500 solar panels were installed on the Knesset’s roof, and on those of surrounding buildings, producing 450kw of energy. Phase 1 of Israel’s Green Knesset project also cut paper and water consumption.

According to Israel's business information group, BDICoface, Israeli companies and entities registered 3,555 patents in the United States in 2014 – an increase of around 21 percent over the previous year. Israel comes 3rd in the world for patents, after Japan and Taiwan.

Akron Ohio has reached an agreement with five Israeli water technology companies to make Akron the for Israeli water research in North America.

Israel wastewater treatment company Emefcy won the prestigious award for Excellence in the Field of Environmental Technology Development at CleanEquity Monaco 2015. Emefcy’s CEO and founder Eytan Levy received the award from Monaco’s Prince Albert II.

An interesting article on Israeli agricultural technology, plus 4 Israeli “AgTech” companies developing creative solutions for sustainable agriculture. , , and will feature at Israel’s 19th annual Agritech International Agricultural Exhibition & Conference on April 27.

Israel’s Green Road Technologies sells systems for monitoring real-time driving data, using a smartphone or its own hardware installed in vehicles. The systems raise awareness of safety, save fuel, reduce insurance premiums, motoring costs and accidents. Green Road has just raised $26 million of finance.

Israel’s Skycure offers two main products, a free app that secures mobile devices for consumers and software that keeps companies safe from external mobile devices. Skycure has just raised $8 million of funding.

Israeli start-up E2C (Easy to Connect) has developed an interface for smartphones that make them easier for seniors to use. A large display menu, longer response times, vibrating keys, voice activation, simple navigation and a one-click response all make life much easier for the technically-challenged.

I featured Israel’s Wi-Charge in , and it was recently demonstrated in San Francisco. The infra-red laser transmitters are in 2016 and cost $50 - $100.

The Weizmann Institute of Science has the distinction of having the top percentage of grants awarded to it by the European Research Council’s 7th Framework Program. Between 2007 and 2013, it had 35 percent of its grants proposals accepted, totaling nearly 150 million Euros.