Wednesday 27 July 2011

The Israel Pavilion at IBC 2011

IBC is the leading global tradeshow for professionals engaged in the creation, management and delivery of broadcasting media and entertainment. Taking place at the Amsterdam RAI from 8 to 13 September and attracting over 48,000 attendees from more than 140 countries, IBC combines a highly respected and peer-reviewed conference with an exhibition that exhibits more than 1,300 leading suppliers of state of the art electronic media technology and provides unrivalled networking opportunities.

Israel's New Media industry has grown rapidly in the last few years with over 1000 companies in this field; more than 500 of which are classified as startups.

Active in Internet applications and services, online advertising and entertainment, they are also dynamic players in broadcast, digital & cable TV, IPTV and satellite services amongst other sectors.

Israel is known as the 'Start-up Nation' and the new media companies offer the most innovative and cutting edge technologies to an ever changing media world. This was witnessed by Emma Barnett, Digital Media Editor of the Telegraph on her recent visit to Israel. Her article can be found online here: “Israel: The start up nation taking on Silicon Valley“.

As in previous years, the Trade & Economic Office at the Embassy of Israel, London is working together with the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute to showcase these technologies at IBC in Amsterdam which will be taking place in September.

The Israel Pavilion at IBC serves as a hub of innovation and an oasis of expertise with approximately 30 companies presenting their solutions in their respective sectors. For the third consecutive year, Daniel Saunders from the Trade & Economic Office will be conducting tours of the Israel Pavilion and coordinating introductions between UK and Israeli companies at IBC. The tours allow guests to experience a variety of technologies in a short period of time. The past few years have been very successful in showcasing opportunities and forging partnerships.

Information on Israel’s New Media industry together with full details on the companies at the Israel Pavilion can be found on our website: www.israelmediainnovations.com.

To organise your tour of the Israel Pavilion and meet with relevant companies or to further understand Israel’s competitive edge, please contact Daniel Saunders at the Commercial Office on +44 20 7957 9504 • dan@israeltrade.gov.il.

Friday 22 July 2011

Israel: The Start-up Nation taking on Silicon Valley

The Daily Telegraph is the UK’s highest selling broadsheet newspaper. Emma Barnett, the Telegraph's Digital Media Editor, was recently awarded the Digital Editorial Individual of 2011 at the AOP Digital Publishing Awards.

She is regarded as the leading digital media journalist in the UK with a large Twitter following. In addition to her position at the Telegraph, she is also a broadcaster the BBC, Sky News, CNN and LBC.

Israel's New Media industry, although relatively in its youth has grown rapidly in the last few years.

There are more than 700 new media companies in Israel, whose offerings span the range of new media possibilities. They are active in Internet applications and services, online advertising, entertainment and video and more.

They are also dynamic players in broadcast, digital & cable TV, IPTV and satellite services, strong in content creation, delivery and management, and have a potent presence in gaming.

The sector has developed rapidly over the last few years. While some companies, such as Adsmarket, Answers.com, BigBand, ICQ, Incredimail, NDS, Orca, Optibase, Pilat Media, Sintec Media, SpeedBit and Waves are large, most are smaller, with more than 400 classified as start-ups.

Israel is known 'Start Up Nation' - Israeli Start-up companies in the new-media field offer the most innovative and cutting edge technologies to an ever changing media world.
As in previous years, the Commercial Office at the Embassy of Israel, London has been working together with the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute to showcase these technologies at IBC in Amsterdam which will be taking place in September.

In preparation for this, and to further the exposure of the Israeli companies, Daniel Saunders from the Commercial Office and Lee Aviram from the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute invited and arranged for Emma Barnett to come to Israel for her to understand the growing New Media Sector and experience some of the advanced, innovative technologies coming out of Israel, and to meet with the industry leaders.

Emma's visit to Israel was a remarkable success with impressive feedback from Emma herself and also those with whom she meet. Her impressions of the trip and those that she met were shared daily through her Twitter updates (@EmmaBarnett).

Yesterday, Emma wrote her first article about her trip to Israel in the Telegraph where she highlighted how Israel's technology and spirit is competing with Silicon Valley for the innovation crown. The article "Israel: The start up nation taking on Silicon Valley" can be found online here:

Friday 15 July 2011

Israel Water Delegation to the UK, July 2011


Last week, the Commercial Office was delighted to host a delegation of water innovation companies from Israel to the UK. Arriving the evening of July 4th, the goals of the two day trip were largely to facilitate an exchange of ideas and experience with their UK counterparts and hopefully plants seeds for mutual business development in the future.

The morning on the first day of the trip was spent at Anglian Water, one of the UK’s leading Water Utility companies. After a comprehensive site tour, Head of Innovation, Steve Kaye spoke about the company’s challenges with sewerage.

The group moved on to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for a briefing on the opportunities in Eastern Europe and how the water market works. Ian Bernard, the Technical Manager for British Water generously gave up his time to provide for the delegation an objective overview of the entire UK Water industry. The evening finished with a fantastic buffet dinner hosted by UK Israel Business at the offices of Nabarro LLP.

On day two, the Commercial office had pre-arranged an ‘Israel Water Innovation Day’ at the offices of BDO in Baker Street. The keynote speakers were Tom Stephenson, Chairman of British Water, Simon Barnes, Head of Innovation at Yorkshire Water and Shai Weiss, the Founding Partner of Virgin Green Fund.

The attendees comprised of stakeholders throughout the water industry, with representatives from the majority of the UK Utility companies, venture capitalists and related trade associations.

Overall the Commercial Office facilitated in excess of 120 meetings in a relaxed atmosphere where the visiting Israeli companies were able to showcase their innovations and solutions to the UK market.

We have been very happy with the feedback we have received so far and are very optimistic the event will act as a catalyst to fuel the UK’s interest in Israel’s premier water event, ‘Watec’ being held in November this year.

Tuesday 12 July 2011

TASE Israel Opportunity Conference, London 2011

On Thursday 7th July, the "Israel Opportunity 2011’ conference, sponsored and produced by the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) was held in Merchant Taylors’ Hall in the City of London. The event was an opportunity for the key players in some of Israel’s largest companies to showcase their organisation’s latest activity to an audience composed of stakeholders across British business and finance.

With an opening address by Ester Levanon, CEO of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, the assembly of speakers representing the strength and breadth of the Israeli Economy was outstanding. Governor of the Bank of Israel, Professor Stanley Fischer, spoke on the current condition of the Israeli Economy and what challenges lie ahead. Comparing economic data with nations throughout the world, Israel is competitive throughout and with a 5.2% growth projection of GDP for 2011, far outstrips other Western economies. Other speakers in the morning included Dr Yossi Bachar of Israel Discount Bank, Galia Maor of Bank Leumi and Ephraim Rosenhaus of Shufersal, all advocating the strengths and uniqueness of their companies and outlining their ambition for where they wished to go in the future.

The event concluded with an emotive address by the chairperson of the Strauss Group, Ofra Strauss. Strauss, whose family began the Strauss Group in the 1930s represented a dynamic organisation that epitomised the broad ambitions of the modern corporation yet was passionate not only about the company’s Israeli heritage but how big business is becoming a major force for social change. She spoke on themes as broad as ecological threats, the need for industry to promote a healthy lifestyle, the diversity of the Strauss workforce and the enormous effort the company was making to change the world through a range of social projects. Her presentation ended with a powerful short film on the modern State of Israel, leaving the audience in no doubt the incredible contribution Israel is making to both the global business market and the world at large.

Tuesday 5 July 2011

Lord Mayor of the City of London visits Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

On Sunday 3rd July, City of London Lord Mayor Michael Bear, opened the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange ahead of a major panel discussion, heralding the City of London’s ambition to enhance the already thriving commercial relationship that exists between the UK and Israel.
Lord Mayor Bear’s gesture has tremendous symbolic resonance. While London remains the epicenter of the financial world, the City of London nevertheless realizes the opportunity to capitalize on the meteoric growth of the Israeli economy, seemingly unaffected by the financial turmoil faced by it’s closest trading allies.
Mr Bear was joined by British Ambassador Matthew Gould, who claimed that the “United Kingdom has committed itself nationally to forging the strongest possible hi-tech partnership with Israel”. Israel is already one of the UK’s key strategic business partners with annual bilateral trade exceeding the $4 billion mark, namely because of a dramatic increase in UK exports to Israel in recent months.