Wednesday 23 November 2011

The Israel Pavilion at Medica 2011

Medica is the world's largest medical trade fair hosting professionals from a wide range of the medical and healthcare fields. Taking place in Düsseldorf Germany from 16 - 19 November, the trade fair this year attracted approximately 134,500 visitors from over 100 nations.

With over 4,500 exhibitors presenting the entire cross-section of products, services and processes, the Israeli pavilion stood out as being a vibrant hub of innovation and originality.

Indeed, all halls of exhibition were well attended, as reported by the organizers of Medica; however, the Israel Pavilion (in part, due to its unique structure) seemed especially popular, drawing thousands of visitors and interested parties. Perhaps the best evidence for the striking interest in the Israeli pavilion can be found in the impressive figure of some 1,000 meetings held between Israeli companies and organizations from all over the globe.

For the 5th consecutive year the Trade & Economic Office at the Embassy of Israel, London took an active role in attracting leading UK companies and organizations in the national medical arena to meet with Israeli innovators at Medica. Our purpose was to familiarise the UK companies with the innovative products and services presented by the Israeli companies at Medica. This work culminated in approximately 100 meetings between Israeli companies and top UK companies and organization such as the NHS, Boots, Smith & Nephew, Stryker etc.

At the Trade & Economic Office we feel Medica was a great success this year. Our impression is supported by the very positive feedback we had received from visitors during the show, who especially mentioned the amazing atmosphere and the exceptionally constant ‘buzz’ at the Israel Pavilion. We take pride in the success of the Israeli pavilion and we aim at following-up any possible outcomes of it, hopefully in the form of establishing productive partnerships between UK and Israeli companies.

Tuesday 15 November 2011

Report: Telecommunications Roundtable, November 2011

The telecommunications industry stands at the precipice of a key phase. With unprecedented challenges and opportunities likely to emerge in the near future, the Trade & Economic Office at the Embassy of Israel, together with UK Israel Business, has held its inaugural telecommunications roundtable last Thursday 10 November 2011. The occasion was first event organised collaboratively by the Trade & Economic Office and UK Israel Business. Chaired by telecommunications expert, Mike Grabiner, and hosted by CMS Cameron McKenna, the event brought together influential figures from all spheres of the telecommunications sector, including senior individuals from BT plc, Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile, Telefónica O2 and Jersey Telecom.

Few things are as ubiquitous and pervasive to societies across the globe as telecommunications. Developing nations in particular have seen an exponential surge in the use of ‘new’ information and communications technology. In 1991, total access to both fixed and mobile telephones in the developing world stood at 2%. By 2004, the figure had burgeoned to 31%. In 2010, the International Telecommunication Union estimated that 57% of people in the developing world were subscribed to a mobile network. Africa, long dismissed by critics as technologically ‘stunted’, now boasts the fastest growing mobile market globally, with a 65% penetration rate.

Similarly, the use of the internet in the developing world continues to flourish. In 1994, a paltry 0.03% of the developing world utilized the web, but today 1.5 billion people from these regions are internet users. This represents a substantial 2,527.4% growth rate in Africa and a 1,987.0% growth rate in the Middle East over the past decade.

Whilst these staggering statistics routinely dominate the headlines, it would be imprudent to overlook the considerable growth still taking place in the developed world. Take for instance Vodafone’s European mobile data traffic, which increased by 115% between the first quarter and second quarter of 2009 alone. Across the Atlantic, AT&T registered a 30-fold growth in traffic between the third quarter of 2009 and the corresponding quarter of 2010. Elsewhere, approximate trends have taken place in Japan and China.

With this in mind, and after a sumptuous light breakfast, the telecommunications roundtable began in earnest. A key theme was quickly established, the issue of bandwidth. Across the world, there is an immense demand for more bandwidth. To buttress this assertion, attention was drawn to a recent Cisco forecast which estimates that global mobile data traffic will increase 26 fold between 2010 and 2015. Much of this is attributed to the growing use of smartphones which generate 10-20 times more traffic than non-smart phones. Attendees were then informed that during the same period, the total capacity of the world’s wireless networks will increase by about 10 times. The pivotal question thus arose as to how the UK would address these impending challenges, and the resultant demands on bandwidth.

As smartphones began to become a commonplace fixture on the market, operators made the crucial mistake of bundling free data into their pricing plans. As such, their pricing models were based on voice and text and simply did not account for the data. The current model for processing bandwidth and data traffic has therefore become an unsustainable burden, shouldered by the operators. They have in turn incurred extra costs as they have been forced to outsource additional supplies from fixed line operators such as BT. Consequently, it was thus concurred by all present that greater regulatory intervention is both indubitable and necessary.

Urgent changes need to be implemented by operators to provide a more equitable model with clear definitions on how bandwidth is paid for and managed. Indeed, few will disagree that the costs ultimately need to be passed back to the user. To this end, attendees at Thursday’s roundtable touted the idea of specialist ‘packages’ for gaming and video streaming as a potential solution. Others suggested that operators have to be more mindful of using unsustainable practices, such as subsidized mobile handsets. In this way, it is essential that operators make definite strides towards cutting back on their out-dated cost base. In our opinion, it is unlikely that any company will stand alone in carrying out sweeping changes. In such a competitive market, the cost of losing their customer base is simply too great. It is therefore imperative that regulators step in and oversee the process. Crucially though, the present regulation philosophy is sorely in need of reform. The challenge in this regard will be for regulators to balance neutrality with encouraging further investment to keep the industry buoyant. Perhaps most importantly, the solutions derived from this process should be organic and not technocratic, as attendees agreed that commercial solutions had not proved viable in the past.

Though the challenges are well-defined and critical, there is significant scope for real opportunities for trade between Israel and Europe in the telecommunications industry. In such a fast-paced industry, and on the back of the success of Thursday’s event, is hoped that similar roundtables will be held several times periodically throughout year.

This in turn will provide an ideal platform for more innovative Israeli companies to introduce themselves to the British and European markets. Indeed, as a leading innovator of telecommunications both ‘upstream’ and ‘downstream’, Israeli companies are well placed to adapt to the impending changes facing the sector.

Our thanks go to the team at UK Israel Business for their partnership in this event and we look forward to working with them again on future projects

Friday 11 November 2011

Britain and Israel announce new UK-Israel fellowship exchange in regenerative medicine

Britain and Israel will establish a new, joint fellowship exchange scheme to enhance collaboration between the countries in the area of regenerative medicine.

The announcement was made last week at a meeting between Britain’s Minister of Universities and Science David Willetts and Israel’s Minister for Science and Technology Prof. Daniel Hershkowitz.

Britain’s Medical Research Council and the Israeli Ministry of Science and Technology will provide matching funding of up to £50,000 each for the new fellowship exchange scheme, which will come under the umbrella of BIRAX – the Britain Israel Research and Academic Exchange Partnership in Regenerative Medicine.

Minister David Willetts commented “Israel and Britain are both world leaders in regenerative medicine. Both our governments are keen to support closer cooperation. This new fellowship scheme demonstrates our commitment to doing so. It will help build a lasting bond between British and Israeli researchers. We want to see it lead to collaboration in research between our scientists.”

Minister for Science and Technology Prof. Daniel Herkowitz said today, "Regenerative medicine is one of the most important fields of research in which mankind is still feeling its way. The goal of the joint fellowshiop programme is to encourage talented researchers to concentrate on this field in order to find a breakthrough in treating severe diseases. The program is another important milestone in the relations between the UK and Israel in the field of science, and we are grateful for Ambassador Matthew Gould’s work in promoting this matter.”

The announcement comes just a few weeks before the first major UK-Israel Regenerative Medicine conference, which will be held at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. The conference will bring together leading researchers from both countries from various fields of regenerative medicine, including cell therapy, stem cell biology, gene therapy and more to learn about each other’s work and develop collaborations.

Dr Mark Palmer, head of international strategy at the British Medical Research Council, said: “Building and maintaining a cadre of highly-skilled researchers is essential for driving innovative research worldwide. Israel and the UK are trailblazers for regenerative medicine and, through our collaboration, we will be re-enforcing the MRC’s commitment to improving treatments for patients and identifying areas where new technologies demand new skills and learning. As regenerative medicine becomes an increasingly prevalent aspect of modern medicine, there has never been a more exciting time to work in this field.”

from: ukinisrael.fco.gov.uk

Tuesday 8 November 2011

UK Minister for Universities and Science leads high-level digital delegation to Israel

Last week, the Minister for Universities and Science, the Rt Hon David Willetts MP, travelled to Israel for a three-day visit focused on bolstering high tech links between the UK and Israel.

The Minister led a delegation of over a dozen leading British companies and investors from the field of digital technology. This delegation was constructed together with the Trade & Economic Office at the Embassy of Israel, London.

This delegation came on the heels of the official launch of the British Embassy’s new dedicated High Tech Hub. Among the participants are leading venture capitalists, as well as, Telefonica O2, Albion, Stylus Media Group, and Eric Van Der Kleij CEO of London’s TechCity, the capital’s growing high-tech centre, already home to 300 companies.

Minister Willetts will be the British co-chair of the new UK-Israel High-Tech Council, which the two Prime Ministers have agreed to establish. The Council will bring together the key figures in tech on both sides, as well as some of the most impressive start-ups and investors.

During his visit to Israel, Minister Willetts met with senior members of Israel’s digital community and a range of digital start-ups, to gain an insight into Israel’s digital economy, and to identify ways in which the UK and Israel can be partners in this key area.

Speaking ahead of the visit, the Minister said: “I am delighted to be visiting Israel with such a high-profile delegation, one that really represents the innovation and diversity of Britain’s digital sector. This is a significant time for the UK-Israel high tech relationship, and our goal will be to demonstrate to Israeli companies that Britain can help Israeli innovation go global. .”

As part of the visit, the Minister and members of the delegation visited the Technion Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa. While in Haifa, they led a seminar on UK high tech, hosted by Google at its offices in the MATAM industrial park. The seminar focused on the opportunities available to companies setting up in TechCity – the digital tech cluster growing up around the Olympic Park in East London.

In addition to a number of speaking events, including at the Go4Europe conference in Tel Aviv, Minister Willetts met with a series of Israeli officials, including Minister for Trade, Industry and Labour, Shalom Simhon and Science and Technology Minister Daniel Hershkowitz.

The British and Israeli Governments are aligning in the areas of technology and innovation and there is a positive atmosphere in trade relations which bodes well for the future.

Information taken from: ukinisrael.fco.gov.uk