SpeedMind’s conference – Dual-use technology

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The SpeedMind’s conference focused on the raising of funds from various sources, mostly government – and guiding Israeli companies and academic institutions seeking to raise funds from U.S. Federal institutions.

The SpeedMinds group recently held its monthly meeting covering the subject of fundraising. The meeting this time focused on R&D of dual application technology, that is, military based technologies which could also be applied in the civilian world (Internet, GPS).

Programs such as MEIMAD (Collaboration between the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Defense), the Bird Fund program (a joint collaboration of companies from Israel and the U.S. – including a new agreement for HLS initiatives) are just a few examples of possible dual-application technology projects. The U.S. programs of DARPA, DTRA, and others are just a few of the Federal Institutions the Israeli programs are in contact with.

Avi Yariv,  i-HLS Domain expert  and CEO at BIP, delivered a presentation at the conference dealing with the migration of military technologies to the Homeland Security arena (AKA HLS).

Giora Shaked, CEO of RDC (Rafael Development Co.), a subsidiary of Rafael and Elron spoke of their goal to establish civil companies based on military technology developed by Rafael. The process of reaching that goal involves the ‘sprouting’ of these new companies and controlled growth using similar means to ‘green houses’ or in business terms ‘growth through nurturing’ with venture capital.  An excellent example of this type of development and growth through maturity, according to Giora Shaked, is the PillCam developed by Given Imaging. This leading edge medical technology involves a patient swallowing a pill containing a micro video camera which would film a patient’s body and organs during medical examinations. There are other companies as well involved in the field of medical technology and development.

A company called Incubit (a technological greenhouse owned by Elbit Systems) is currently being established in Beer-Sheva. Their goal is to detect new technologies at an early stage, and to provide guidance and support all the way through the implementation phase.

The ‘Elad’ system developed by bio-Nexus is designed to save the lives of wounded soldiers on the battlefield, by guiding a paramedic’s actions under pressured and emergency conditions.  The system provides situational pictures for the paramedical staff, reporting the status of the injured and his medical history which aids and supports the decision-making process under battlefield conditions. The system is currently being tested by both the IDF as well as in the U.S. Army. The system supports both training and real operations.

Shay Palti, the CEO of Commtact, (a member of the Aeronautics Group), described the capabilities of his company and its product offerings to those in attendance at the conference. According to Palti these products are all based on military know-how and technologies which can be applied to civil and commercial markets as well.