By Eliana Rudee/JNS.org
Israeli technology is changing the world. Last week, at the Microsoft Israel R&D Center’s 25th anniversary event in Tel Aviv, this was proven yet again.
The event hosted dozens of booths housing Israeli innovations that showcased the start-ups’ inventions. Immigrants like myself made many of the inventions; immigrants tend to be among the most innovative people, often out of necessity. Think about Silicon Valley, which full of Asian and Indian immigrants who make it the tech hub that it is. This is exactly why Israel is jokingly called “Silicon Wadi.”
Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella (an immigrant himself), was present at Israel’s Microsoft Anniversary Event plenary and offered an address that praised Israeli innovation: “There is no doubt that a country like Israel is going to change the world”. To hear that from the Microsoft CEO is promising to say the least- there are few people whose validation is worth so much as Satya Nadella’s validation.
Here are some of the top inventions showcased at the event, with a touch of my personal spin on them:
DiACardio Echo Evaluation Software
DiACardio developed innovative algorithms to provide fast and accurate evaluations to heart ultrasounds. According to their website, “DiACardio’s LVivo will enable a new era of quick, easy and accurate heart function evaluation.” DiACardio promises to overcome the traditional Echocardiograms’ blunders: slowness, difficulty, and having a large margin of error.
Seven years ago, I was diagnosed with a heart condition during my first trip to Israel, called “Sinoatrial Nodal Reentrant Tachycardia.” The doctors kept me in the hospital for days, and all I wanted to do was explore Israel. Now, DiACardio Echo Evaluation Software could be used to detect heart problems like mine. I would have loved to have that technology back in 2009, and now, as an immigrant to Israel, I am proud to be an aspiring entrepreneur who helps make these innovative technologies possible.
Recommendations Mood Radio
The Recommendations Mood Radio recognizes your age, gender, and mood through a photograph that it takes on the spot. With that information, the software analyzes and comes up with a playlist for you.
The night before the conference, I was playing Beyoncé for about an hour straight. My boyfriend was not too pleased with me. At the conference, I tested the new software that would guess my favorite playlist based on my picture. The software took a picture of me, and after about 10 seconds, it guessed that I was a “happy female age 26”—very close. But the most amazing part was the playlist it came up with…Beyoncé!
Sky Tran
Gerald Jay Sanders, the CEO of Sky Tran Inc., spoke to the ThinkNext 2016 audience about the company’s vision to connect the world’s cities with a Sky Tran, the future of transportation. The Sky Tran was presented at a panel as an elevated, flying transportation that can reach up to 150 miles per hour with a cost that is only 1/10 of that of a light rail and consuming 1/3 of the energy that a Toyota Prius does. The technology would thus have a small footprint and be non-polluting.
In Jerusalem, they are currently building a train that goes straight from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv in 45 minutes. This will make many peoples’ commutes much easier, but I’m curious why Israel does not “look upwards” for a solution and put in a Sky Tran instead.
3-D Printed Outfit
Dana Porter Rubinshtein, the director of strategy, marketing, and planning for the Microsoft Israel R&D Center, hosted and welcomed everyone to the ThinkNext conference in a cool new style: a 3-D printed jacket and pair of shoes!
I must say that the jacket and shoes looked very cool and just what you would imagine our fashion of the future to be like. Leave it up to Israel to innovate everything from smartphone technologies, all the way to a cool new jacket!
SkyFi
Raz Izhaki Tamir, the CEO and founder of SkyFi, discussed the new idea that would connect the globe with Internet from nanosatellites. The Israeli space start-up raised more than $3 million from Jerusalem Venture Partners and the Liberty Israel Venture Fund to deploy 60 nanosatellites around the globe. The idea, which creates Wi-Fi bubbles and even service to planes, is a less expensive and more effective alternative to installing conventional satellites around the world.
Yes, it’s true—with this technology, you might be able to get better Wi-Fi reception as you climb Masada. But if Israel can employ these nanosatellites into space, think about how the entire world will profit from the information revolution: underdeveloped areas in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Israel’s start-up and technology scene, led largely by immigrants, is yet another reason why I’m so excited by all of the technologies that Israel develops in order to make the world more safe, comfortable, connected, developed, and even fashionable.
Eliana Rudee is a fellow with the Haym Salomon Center and the author of the “Aliyah Annotated” column for JNS.org. She is a graduate of Scripps College, where she studied international relations and Jewish studies. Her bylines have been featured in USA Today, Forbes, and The Hill. Follow her column on JNS.org.
