Category: Innovation

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IAI Helps India Get a Foot Up on Its Defense Network

IAI had another successful trip to India this week, as a major deal between the Indian Ministry of Defense and this leading developer and producer of defense systems and technologies was signed at the Defexpo 2016. The conference was held last week in Goa, India, and IAI president Joseph Weiss flew in to sit with heads of many of the major defense and security companies within India.

Signed, Sealed & Delivered

The upshot of all these meetings was outstanding success for both sides, as a number of deals amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars were signed. The Indian defense organizations were interested in several technologies including the air defense systems, unmanned aerial systems (UAS), and radar systems, all of which are going to provide India with a stronger line of defense than ever before.

As Weiss himself said, “India has unique operational requirements, and IAI is dedicating its best talents, technologies and capabilities to meet those challenges. We will continue our long-term, strategic partnership with India, meet our customers’ expectations and implement the ‘Make in India’ policy led by India’s Prime Minister.”

IAI in Action

IAI is an aerospace and defense company based in Israel. It is the largest government run organization, and it supplies advanced systems including satellites, space systems, robotics, cyber solutions, electronic intelligence, and command and strategic control systems, as well as more germane systems such as their passenger to freighter conversion systems.

Of course, this is not the first time IAI has signed a deal with the Indian Ministry of Defense. The prominent defense company has been supplying defense technology to India and several other governments for over a quarter of a century, with joint ventures, subcontracts, and cooperation agreements spanning the globe. The Israeli company has worked closely with India in particular, offering their important services and innovations to several branches of the Indian defense forces including coast guard, navy, air force, and border control.

The Future of Defense

The expo was a valuable opportunity for IAI to display some of their latest innovations, many of which have already been successfully demonstrated within India and have won the interest of the Indian Ministry of Defense. Some of the exciting developments included newly engineered IEDs (improvised explosive devices) that can be detonated in non conventional ways and an early warning system driven via radar sensors that are invaluable for signalling against mortar attacks.

India and Israel will continue their research and development together to provide the most productive and solid defense systems available.

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India Investing in Israel, Israel Updating India

India and Israel have been courting each other for nearly twelve years now, and in recent years the relationship has blossomed into a full-blown love affair. The two biggest investment firms in India are already smitten with the small, technology-based country, and now the third conglomerate is getting in on the fun. Aditya Birla has dispatched representatives to assess the current situation in Israel as a precursor for some major investments into the development of several lucky startups, and Israel is welcoming the idea with open arms.

Aditya Birla Scopes Out The Scene

The Group Executive President of Corporate Strategy and Business Development, Dev Bhattacharya, came to Israel in February with the explicit instructions to scout out the prospects. Along with several directors of various branches of Aditya Birla, Bhattacharya reviewed close to 500 startups across Israel that covered the spectrum of the technology industry. After the initial assessment, Aditya Birla will bring a select few of the chosen companies over to India to pitch their concepts to the board of investors. The lucky winners will receive a fund that will allow these companies to continue researching and developing their concepts.

The companies reviewed covered a wide range of industries including cybersecurity, water tech, financial technology, new media, and cleantech. Aditya Birla already has their hand in most industries across India, so the spread is in keeping with their current domestic practices. The company currently stands at approximately $41 million.

Previous Investments

Infosys made headlines when they bought out Panaya, a major database management service in Israel that is based on the cloud, for $200 million. This was a worthwhile investment that helped Infosys advance their service offerings and expand their reach. Tata is another smart Indian company that jumped on the Israel bandwagon early on. They have already invested in the Tel Aviv University’s Technology Innovation Momentum Fund, and Tata is looking towards their groundbreaking discoveries in several fields including pharmaceuticals, healthcare, cleantech, and software development.

According to Shlomo Nimrodi, Ramot’s CEO, “Tata is a huge company, worth $100 billion at least, but they have made a strategic decision to significantly expand that worth in the coming years, and the best way for them to do that is via innovation.” So it seems that Israeli innovations are the up and coming trends for developing economies.

A Win-Win Situation

The partnership is being viewed as a positive move for both sides of the arrangement. The Israeli startups are excited to be getting the funding to fuel further development of some concepts and technologies could very well change the face of the world. The Indian investors are also thrilled to be the recipients of these new technologies and are anxious to see what this undervalued resource of the Middle East will produce in the future. With this deal in the bag, the world can expect to see more Indian-Israel relations cropping up in the coming years.

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Beating Zika & Making a Difference, Israeli Biofeed Takes on the Challenge

Biofeed is a company with a mission. They’re out to change the world, and they are well on their way towards doing it. Thanks to the Grand Challenges contest hosted in Israel this year, Biofeed has been given 500,000 NIS to continue their research combating the Zika virus. The Aedes aegypti mosquito, the insect responsible for spreading the pernicious virus, has been the subject of the team’s research for some time now, and at last the Israeli corporation is seeing results.

A Global Issue

Zika is commonly misdiagnosed since the symptoms including high fever, rashes, and joint pain, often go unnoticed or misread until later stages. While generally not lethal, the Zika virus is a prolific disease due to its fast and far-reaching method of transmission – the insects bite people and then fly great distances to spread the malady. Aside from being a major discomfort, Zika can cause brain damage to fetuses in-utero and a temporary form of paralysis for the mother. The virus is currently affecting millions of victims across Africa and other poverty-stricken nations. With time though, Biofeed plans to make this problem disappear.

Biofeed to the Rescue

Biofeed is working with a scented poison that will attract and infect these insects, eradicating entire colonies in the process. The substance is perfectly harmless for humans, but it will effectively wipe out these pesky pests.

When asked what the motivation was for such a movement, Mashav, Israel’s agency that deals with International Development Cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, director Gil Haskel explains, “Much of the world’s population is suffering from lack of food and access to clean water and exposure to diseases. Israeli entrepreneurs have developed technologies that will improve the quality of life for billions around the world.” Biofeed is one of the companies taking these challenges head on.

Making Waves All Over the World

The Grand Challenges contest is helping Biofeed and other innovative companies complete their altruistic missions. The concept behind the initiative is to connect world-changing technological developments with the entrepreneurship to fund their discoveries. It is their hope that these breakthroughs will help make the world a better place, specifically catering their efforts towards global issues that exist in Africa, South America, Asia, and other problem areas throughout the world.

A nationwide initiative, the Grand Challenge has already seen dramatic results. Nine other companies were also given the grant to further their developments within their specific fields. Some of the other Israeli contestants include Amaizz, a company that is helping Kenya solve their crops issues;  FIT, the creators of expanding prosthetic appendages to help ease the adjustment cycle and pain in children with these needs; and Semorex, a research lab conquering cancer by killing off cancerous cells.

This is the second year Israel is participating in a Grand Challenge contest, and governments, entrepreneurs, and organizations alike are all anxious to see what major results will come out of this pint-sized country.

 

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Israeli Ophthalmologist is Saving The World by Changing The Winds

Wind turbines are a popular form of renewable energy that are slowly being adopted all over the world. One of the leading researchers and developers of this earth-friendly alternative is Leviathan Energy Renewables, Ltd. based in Israel. And with traditional Israeli tenacity one scientist is striving to change the world by harnessing these winds. And he is succeeding beyond expectations.

Leviathan Energy Renewables Making Leviathan Changes

Dr. Daniel Farb is the CEO of Leviathan. Together with his team, Farb is revolutionizing the way the world uses this alternative energy source in both its breadth and depth of usability. Farb’s goal is to make this form of renewable energy so efficient that anyone in the world can use it no matter where in the world they are. So not only are Leviathan’s innovations making the wind turbines more powerful, but they are successfully introducing them to areas all over the world that have never been able to utilize such technology before.

Leviathan Across the Globe

Leviathan Energy holds over 30 patents in different countries across the globe including the US, South Africa, Canada, and of course Israel. Some of these innovative concept designs are similar to their previously launched inventions such as wind energizers. These are panels that increase the speed of the wind near the wind turbines, essentially evening out the force of the wind against the turbine for greater efficiency. This can actually be useful in areas that experience lower wind speeds.

So how effective are these Farb-introduced methods? According to the research, previous attempts at improving wind turbine production have been focused on the turbine itself and have yielded approximately 1-2% improvement. In contrast, Leviathan’s methods are seeing as much as 30% increased production levels.

Crowdfunding Their Way to Success

Investors are lining up to fund this project, but everyone wants to see a working prototype first. Since the working turbines of today are generally 80-100 meters wide, Farb is now set on raising $1 million to fund the continuation of his research and development centers. If successful, this one Israeli could impact the climate change dilemma of the entire world.

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Israelis Tackle the Aids Crisis with Ancient Medical Treatments

Circumcision has often been viewed as a barbaric practice that should have been left in the Dark Ages from whence it came. However, scientists are discovering now that this medical practice may be more advantageous than they had previously believed.

After years of research and development, Israeli-based and run healthcare technology enterprise Circ MedTech Ltd. has come up with an innovation that uses traditional Jewish circumcisions combined with new technology to effectively fight AIDS.

Skeptical?

See what happened when Israeli delegates brought these devices to Africa…

Background

After a huge number of Soviet Jews entered Israel, an overwhelming demand for circumcisions on adult males arose. This is because the Law of Return gave these men Jewish status, but they had never been ritually circumcised back home. With such a great demand surfacing, medical specialists were pressed to come up with faster, more effective, more cost-efficient, and safer ways to perform the medical procedure on adult males. PrePex entered the picture to satisfy this initial demand, but even more interesting were the discoveries that came later.

During their research, scientists found that the procedure actually helped to reduce the risks of HIV/AIDS within heterosexual males. In fact, incidents were reduced by 70% in individuals who had previously been circumcised. These figures were a shocking revelation, offering a medical opportunity to significantly decrease AIDS infections around the world.

Today, PrePex is being used in over 12 countries across the globe to fight the spread of the HIV/AIDS virus.

PrePex in Africa

Upon its resounding success, the Israeli team decided to take their new invention to Africa in an attempt to help dramatically improve the quality of life in this region through the modern circumcision practice. Though many challenges such as limited hospital space, lack of medical practitioners, and hesitancy from the general population to undertake the surgery, urologists boarded a plane, and the rest is history.

Today citizens across Africa are using the PrePex device to enjoy easy, painless, and cheap circumcisions, along with the dramatic health benefits that come packaged with the deal.

PrePex Gains Global Recognition

PrePex has received world acclaim including winning the Oscars of Silicone Valley 2015 Tech Awards for its tremendous preventive efforts towards one of the world’s greatest health care risks. By taking these devices to large communities throughout Africa, the Israeli initiative is spreading the benefits across the globe.

Other Israeli scientists, including Hebrew University professors Abraham Loyter and Assaf Friedler, have developed a method for destroying harmful HIV cells within the body as well. With such a significant breakthrough in the medical field, the world anxiously awaits the next innovation to come out of Israel.