Israel and US to Promote Tech Development for First Responders

Israel and US to Promote Tech Development for First Responders

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the Israel-US Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation has announced that the Israeli Ministry of Public Security and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have signed an agreement of cooperation meant to encourage and support joint projects between Israeli companies and American companies for developing advanced technologies for First Repsonders.

The Israeli-American projects for the development of advanced technologies for first responders will receive about $12 million in funding over the next three years. The agreement brings together the Israeli Ministry of Public Security and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in their aim to better equip and prepare both countries’ national rescue forces including fire, police, and first-aid units. Each side will invest equally in the project.

This collaboration agreement is meant to strengthen and improve the readiness of rescue forces, among them firefighters, police officers and emergency medical services, and their ability to work in the scene. The development collaboration, dubbed “NextGen First Responder Technologies,” will be managed by the Israel-US Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation. The collaborations can be between companies or between companies and research institutions.

This new program further extends the successful collaboration between Israel and the US in the fields of science and technology for Homeland Security, according to an agreement signed in 2008 between Israeli Ministry of Public Security and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

“This program will provide added value to promote and enhance innovation for developing advanced technologies for first responders and enable new business opportunities in a developing market for both Israeli and U.S.companies,” said BIRD Foundation Executive Director Eitan Yudilevich.

Israeli Minister of Public Security and Knesset Member Gilad Erdan called the NextGen agreement a breakthrough for the first responder sector in Israel. “There is now a channel of significant value for development and innovation which will deepen Israel’s global leadership in homeland security for the Israeli high-tech sector and the Israeli market in general,” said Erdan.