Israel Active

The third international AgriVest conference will take place at the Weizmann Institute of Science on April 27 2015. Israeli startups will present their finest in agritech innovation to hundreds of professionals, government officials, businesspeople, scientists and leading investors from Israel and abroad

Here is a brief insight into the work being conducted by scientists and researchers in Israel’s Arava Desert, trying to solve some of the problems in the world’s poorest countries.

Tel Aviv University scientists have developed a single-layer, organic material that emits a full range of colors. It can connect to a microprocessor or video chip to display images in the same manner as rigid LCD or LED screens. Soon you can watch films on a big screen that you can roll up to go.

100 teams competed in the annual Trinity College Robot Contest in Connecticut USA - one of the top robotics contests in the world. Haifa’s Ironi G High School won 1st prize for its Dalek firefighter and Israelis came 1st and 2nd in both individual and team Olympiad exams.

I just received this video of Israeli startup ZUtA’s Pocket Printer making an indelible impression at CES 2015 in Las Vegas.

Over a dozen Israeli startups exhibited and recruited staff at Innovations Israel in New York City. TorchPAC and several NY University organizations put the event together. Sponsors included Israelideas.org, StandWithUs, WZO and ZOA.

The Global Module Course students from Wharton University of Pennsylvania were humbled and motivated by their visit to Israel.

Israel’s Office of the Chief Scientist has produced its first annual Innovation Report. It highlights the flourishing startup industry but also the need to generate big companies, introduce hi-tech in traditional industries and in the public sector, and to improve government involvement.

I reported on Israel’s DogTV in my newsletter. It now has TV distribution deals in nine countries and is popular with millions of canine and non-canine viewers, including the normally anti-Israel UK Guardian newspaper.

An Audi A7 traveled over 560 miles, from California to Nevada, aided by a high-resolution, wide-angle 3-D video camera from Israel’s Mobileye. For 95% of the 560-mile journey, there was no driver. And then a Delphi Automotive “Roadruner” drove itself nearly all of the 3000 miles from San Francisco to Manhattan, using Mobileye’s Advanced Drive Assistance System.