Israel Active

(Thanks to IATI) While it may be desirable to try to replicate Israel's success, collaboration is better, says Haim Shani, chairman of UK-Israel's Technologies Hub, a UK Trade and Investment programme. Christer Holloman, Technology Writer for Sky News gives some examples.

If you just watch one youtube this week, please make it this one. It is the latest video clip from the organisation IATI - Israel Advanced Technology Industries. It summarises Israel’s hi-tech successes in two minutes - so don’t blink!

DLD (Digital - Life - Design) is a global conference network on innovation, digital, science and culture that connects business, creative and social leaders, opinion-formers and investors. October’s five-day festival includes the DLD conference in Old Jaffa and has an excellent program of events.

The US National Ground Water Association has awarded Professor Brian Berkowitz the 2012 M. King Hubbert Award for major science contributions to the knowledge of groundwater. Prof Berkowitz is Weizmann Institute’s head of Environmental Sciences and Energy Research.

The Israeli Patents Exhibition in September was the ideal place for creative minds to market their innovative ideas and get their products off the drawing board and into production. Israel Solodoch, founder of Nufar Natural Products (and a renowned inventor himself) described the event.

(Thanks to NoCamels) The popular Israeli social smartphone navigation application Waze now has a new feature. As you pass near a lake or river, it tells you if the water is fit for swimming in. If not, it even tells you who is responsible for the pollution.

170 TechAviv members met-up at Herzliya’s Inter Disciplinary Centre last week. They were treated to a talk by Israeli entrepreneur superstar Jon Medved and demos of two website to mobile transfer platforms UppSite and Folloyu. Plus a film and free pizza. That’s how to inspire Israeli hi-tech innovators.

The recently inaugurated Be’er Tuviya biogas plant owned by Israel’s Eco-Energy will scoop up the waste of 14,000 cows and in total roughly 15% of all chicken and dairy farms in the country. All that manure will then be used to generate 4MW of electricity for powering around 6,000 homes.

Israel and the USA have expanded their 21-year-old environmental Memorandum of Understanding to include research development, information sharing, green technology development, water sources management, land rehabilitation, air quality and ecological economy ventures.

The Israeli pavilion took pride of place at the Acodal 2012 Water Congress in Bogota, Colombia. 14 Israeli companies were represented. Colombian companies recognize the Israeli water industry as a world leader in innovative solutions.