The Israel Innovation Authority has begun the selection process for six consortia that will begin operating in 2018 under a new program to encourage Israeli industry to develop new technology along with commercial products.
The program is aimed at Israeli industrial companies who are already developing commercial products, and who are simultaneously interested in adapting new technologies, from which a new advanced generation of products can be developed.
It is also aimed at Israeli academic research groups that focus on scientific or technological research and are interested in stimulating applied research and cooperating with industrial companies.
MAGNET Consortiums comprise a nonprofit association of industrial companies and academic research institutes for conducting R&D on cutting-edge technologies before they become competitive, based on substantial cooperation.
The Authority’s Magnet Consortiums operate under the Technological Infrastructure Division, one of 10 divisions at the Authority which serves as a platform to generate cooperation between academia and industry in different technological fields.
This summer the Authority is holding six kick-off meetings for six technological groups of entrepreneurs, (additional groups are also currently being created), from which the consortia that will begin operating in 2018 will be selected.
“Cooperation between academia and industry brings results that neither side could ever reach on its own,” said Ilan Peled, Manager of the Technological Infrastructure Division. “This is cooperation that benefits all sides.”
The six groups being launched are as follows:
AutoSense: Improving the independent capability of autonomous systems to decipher situations, to produce insights and to make decisions regarding necessary actions, through deep-learning technology and efficient processing of information detected by sensors in real time. The aim of the group is to develop algorithms based on deep-learning, that today still require vast energy resources, calculating time, processing resources and memory – over small processing units, with low power consumption and in real time. Developing this field will enable the application of technologies to analyze and process input information in autonomous vehicle systems. The kick off meeting was held on Sunday, July 30, 2017. Applying to join the group is still optional.
Food IoT/Big Data: Improving consumer trust in food products and the efficiency of production value chain in the food industry using systems capable of monitoring the reliability of complaints, predictive competency, and decision-making of key players in the food industry. The entrepreneurs’ goal is to develop a technology for collecting, analyzing and processing significant amounts of information on raw materials, production practices, food consumption and distribution channels, through digitizing sensitive and essential processes in production and to allow information access to all players in the production and consumption chain. The kick off meeting will be held on Thursday, August 3, 2017.
Hydra: Creating a security-by-design, multi-layered IOT platform which is able to respond rapidly in critical situations. The goal of the entrepreneurs is to conduct research and development into the building blocks of technology to collect and store information, algorithms, control and monitoring tools and standards, in order to enable various applications of technology to analyze vast quantities of data in IoT applications aimed at critical processes and decision-making in real time. The kick off meeting will be held on Sunday, August 6, 2017.
Hydrogen Energy: Promoting technologies that would enable the shift from fossil fuel-based transportation to hydrogen-based energy, including storing the hydrogen and using it in electric transportation systems, in land, air and sea vehicles. The goal of the entrepreneurs is to develop safe and efficient methods based on quick, monitored processes of storing and releasing hydrogen, and to develop new processes and devices in order to economically implement them in electric cars and in aerial and marine vessels powered by hydrogen-based energy. The kick off meeting will be held on Sunday, August 6, 2017.
UniHaul: Setting up an efficient, reliable and user-friendly communication infrastructure that improves the user experience through smart architecture, advanced components and monitoring systems. The entrepreneurs’ goal is to develop infrastructural technology for the Front-haul, Mid-haul and Back-haul segments of cellular networks at the landline and wireless level in order to give a holistic, optimal solution for networks in these segments. The kick off meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 8, 2017.
GenPro: Developing an advanced processing platform which is rapid, efficient and independent, based on the RISC-V core. This unique platform will enable members of the consortium to make optimal use of the code generated in the processing system in accordance with the singular needs of each company, while cooperating on the development and efficient use of resources. The goal of the entrepreneurs is to develop software and hardware technology based on the RISC-V processor’s open core, which enables the achievement of improved performance, implementing hardware accelerators to the processor, use of multiple cores and support of a range of additional abilities, while reducing consumption and the required silicon surface. The group members are aiming to jointly develop the processing platform. The kick off meeting will be held on Sunday, August 13, 2017.