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60 Years of Israeli Innovation

At a Glance: Israel boasts 4,123 high tech companies, 156 venture capital funds, 147 investment firms, 411 foreign investors, 33 technology incubators, 7 top universities and more than 2,000 startups ranking it second only to the United States relative to population.

For a nation the size of New Jersey, Israel’s impact on the global energy, life sciences and IT industries is impressive. Israel now boasts the highest number of engineers, scientists and Ph.D.s per capita in the world, is third in spending on research and development, and trails only Silicon Valley in the number of startup companies in operation.

When it comes to entrepreneurial infrastructure, the similarities between Silicon Valley and Israel are striking. In both places, corporate hierarchies are despised, risk-taking is rewarded and failure tolerated. Israel also boasts several elite universities, such as Technion in Haifa, and research centers run by big technology firms such as Cisco, Microsoft and Intel. Among OECD countries, Israel is ranked first in civilian R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP. Entrepreneurs have their pick of providers if they need legal or other services and there are plenty of well-funded venture-capital firms providing cash.

Excerpts from this piece have been taken from: The Jewish Advocate, The Economist, Israel in the World

A selection of Israel’s most Innovative companies which operate in Australia include:

Amdocs - http://www.amdocs.com/
Amdoc's main products are centered around Integrated Customer Management (ICM); the components include a complete product and service suite. In February 2008, Amdocs launched the industry's first Customer Experience Systems Innovation "CES 7.5", codenamed Italy, which it claims will help telecommunication giants to transform their businesses into next generation customer centered organizations.

Ball Tech - http://www.balltech.com.au/
BallTech produces an after-market on-line automated cleaning system for commercial air conditioning systems and heat exchangers. This system has proven to dramatically increase efficiency of these systems and employees Hydro – mechanical principals by retrofitting to the condenser water pipe of existing commercial systems. The process minimizes accumulations in condenser tubes (known as “fouling”) and can easily pay for itself through increased operational efficiency in a relatively small amount of time. Ball Tech has already received praise for overwhelmingly positive results saving nearly 20% on cooling costs at Melbourne Airport. Click here to view a clip from Channel 7.

Check Point Software - http://www.checkpoint.com
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. is a hardware and software company that is best known for its firewall and VPN products. The company was founded in 1993 in Ramat-Gan, Israel, by Gil Shwed, Shlomo Kramer, and Marius Nacht. The company has approximately 1400 employees.

Comverse Technology - http://www.comverse.com/
Comverse is the world’s leading provider of software and systems enabling network-based messaging and content value-added services, converged billing and IP communications. Comverse solutions generate revenues, strengthen customer loyalty and improve operational efficiency for over 500 communication service providers in more than 130 countries.

Given Imaging Ltd - http://www.givenimaging.com
Given Imaging manufactures a non-invasive technology for the diagnosis of
gastrointestinal (GI) tract disorders. This technology, PillCam, consists of a small pill sized camera that travels through the intestinal track taking photos. PillCam capsule endoscopy has proven to be an effective and valuable diagnostic tool for physicians to detect and diagnose diseases of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract due to its comfort and simplicity.

IDE Technologies Ltd. - http://www.ide-tech.com/
IDE Technologies Ltd. is a pioneer and world leader in the delivery of sophisticated water solutions. IDE develops, designs, manufactures, installs and maintains plants for saline water desalination and effluent concentration for industrial and domestic applications. Operated by IDE, the Ashkelon seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) plant is the largest in the World delivering 100 million m3 of water pa. With a capacity of 320,000m3 per day, the plant produces around 13% of the country's domestic consumer demand– equivalent to 5–6% of Israel's total water needs – at one of the world's lowest ever prices for desalinated water.

NDS - http://www.nds.com
NDS creates the security and enabling technologies as well as the interactive applications that allow operators to generate revenues by delivering digital content to TVs, set-top boxes (STBs), Digital Video Recorders (DVRs), PCs, mobile phones, portable media players (PMPs), removable media, and other devices.

Netafim - http://www.netafim.com/
Netafim made history in 1965 with its unique concept drip-irrigation and today they are the world’s largest drip-irrigation manufacturer. Netafim has over $US500Mil in sales with 30 billion emitters in operation and an annual additional 3 billion emitters. Netafim is recognized as the global leader in the field of innovative-based solutions and water technologies whilst protecting the surrounding environment. Netafim operates in 112 countries through 30 subsidiaries manufacturing products in 11 plants with over 2,000 employees throughout the world.

NICE Systems – http://www.nice.com/
NICE Systems is the leading provider of Insight from Interactions solutions and value-added services, powered by advanced analytics of unstructured multimedia content - from telephony, web, radio and video communications. NICE specializes in emotion-sensitive software and call monitoring-systems for security organizations and corporations worldwide including the New York Police Department, Vodafone, and Citibank. NICE has over 24,000 customers in 100 countries, including over 85 of the Fortune 100 companies.

Project Better Place - http://www.projectbetterplace.com/
Working with the nation of Israel (and others) Project Better Place is rolling out the first viable fully electric car and infrastructure the world has ever seen. Their goal is a mass deployment of electric cars that are much less expensive to operate, do not emit pollution or greenhouse gases and provide a better driving experience from current automobiles. Project Better Place aims to reduce global dependency on oil through the creation of a market-based transportation infrastructure that supports electric vehicles, providing consumers with a cleaner, sustainable, personal transportation alternative. Unlike other developments in battery powered vehicles, instead of waiting six hours while your batteries charge, you simply pull up to a battery-switching station, and get a new (fully charged) battery, and the station takes your old battery for recharging. In Israel, Renault-Nissan have joined together and have agreed to make this a reality with over 500,000 charging ports in parking spots across the country, and 200 battery-swap stations. See also BusinessWeek - The Electric Car Acid Test and International Herald Tribune - Israel is embracing the electric car on a wide scale.

Radvision - http://www.radvision.com/
RADVISION is the industry’s leading provider of products and technologies for unified visual communications over IP, 3G and emerging next generation networks - enabling high definition video-conferencing, converged video telephony services, and scalable desktop–based visual communications. Within Australia Radvision is represented by Broadreach Services.

Retalix - http://www.retalix.com/
Retalix is a global provider of integrated software solutions for the food, fuel, and consumer goods retail and distribution industries. Retalix solutions are installed in supermarkets, groceries, convenience stores, fuel stations, and quick service restaurants, as well as foodservice, grocery, convenience products, and fast moving consumer goods distribution organizations. With a primary focus on the special needs of supermarkets, convenience stores, and foodservice, Retalix has unparalleled domain expertise in the food industry at over 40,000 retail and distribution sites and 300,000 checkout lanes around the world including all Australian Woolworths locations.

Teva Pharmaceuticals - http://www.tevapharm.com/
Teva specializes in generic and proprietary pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients. It is the largest generic drug manufacturer in the world and one of the 20 largest pharmaceutical companies worldwide.

For a Listing of Israeli Companies with Offices in Australia Click Here