Jake Epstein

Protective face masks hang on an abandonded boat in the Tel Aviv-Jaffa port on October 28, 2020. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

January 7, 2021, 3:46 pm

Cleantech startup UBQ converts used face masks into ecofriendly material

Potentially harmful to the environment when not disposed of properly, single-use PPE can be put to use, along with other waste, by Israeli firm

By Jake Epstein

Basil Hawari (left) and Afaf Shehab, co-founders of Petwork (Courtesy)

January 4, 2021, 12:44 pm

Pets, jewelry, streaming: Meet the Hybrid accelerator’s Arab Israeli startups

6-month program seeks to propel fledgling Arab entrepreneurs into Israel’s vibrant startup ecosystem, to boost diversity in tech and tap into new sources of talent

By Jake Epstein

An illustrative image of a man talking on a smartphone (fizkes, iStock by Getty Images)

December 21, 2020, 4:06 pm

Social media, meet your past: This startup wants to bring back phone calls

Developer Avi Lieberman hopes his Pattr app will allow ‘old-fashioned’ social network, where people can talk to friends and make new ones

By Jake Epstein

Richard Hsu, Marketing VP, Karma Medical Devices, left to right; Ken Chen, Product Trainer, Karma Medical Devices; Kenny Chen, CEO, Karma Medical Devices; Efrat Shenhod-Malihi, Founder & CEO, ReSymmetry; Eitan Yanuv, Business Development, ReSymmetry;
Jill Ho, Director, Innovation to Industry (i2i) (Courtesy)

December 16, 2020, 1:22 pm

Israeli startup, Taiwan firm to make ‘smart chair’ for people with disabilities

ReSymmetry and Taiwanese manufacturing firm Karma Medical Devices plan to produce a robotic seating system that uses AI to match chair’s seating position to its user

By Jake Epstein

Start-Up Nation Central CEO Eugene Kandel, left, and Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence of the United Arab Emirates in a virtual conversation on December 2, 2020 (Courtesy)

December 6, 2020, 3:05 pm

UAE minister says joint ventures with Israel in AI sector are ‘undeniable need’

Speaking at a virtual conference, UAE’s minister for artificial intelligence says data-rich UAE could serve as testbed for Israeli tech

By Jake Epstein

Zencity offices in Tel Aviv. (courtesy/Zencity)

November 29, 2020, 12:27 pm

Tel Aviv’s Zencity wins international award for ‘pioneering’ smart city project

Startup uses AI to help local governments make data-driven decisions based on communities’ needs; Smart City Expo World Congress prize was in Governance and Economy category

By Jake Epstein

An electric car for elderly people, a project developed by students and faculty of Ariel University (Courtesy)

November 26, 2020, 11:39 am

Israeli students’ electric car for elderly to compete in Dubai-based show

Two-meter car was designed at Ariel University; it can park perpendicular to sidewalk, door opens in front and seats slide forward to ease exit

By Jake Epstein

The graduation ceremony of a cybersecurity boot camp in Oct. 2020. The initiative is a joint effort by Israel's Cybint, a cybersecurity company focused on education, and the Southern New Hampshire University’s Global Education Movement initiative (Courtesy)

November 5, 2020, 2:39 pm

Israeli startup Cybint equips African refugees with cybersecurity skills

A boot camp set up with Southern New Hampshire University aims to find jobs for refugees and fill the shortage of cyber professionals in Africa

By Jake Epstein

Prof. Boaz Lerner of Ben-Gurion University and the software being developed by Panacea (Dani Machlis)

October 28, 2020, 1:08 pm

Israeli researchers wield machine learning to streamline clinical trials

Ben-Gurion University licenses tech to startup Panacea for further development; several biopharma firms seeking to use platform to improve how clinical trials are run

By Jake Epstein

Illustrative image of the US and Israeli flags (3dmitry; iStock by Getty Images)

October 27, 2020, 12:39 pm

Israel, US relations blossom as nations mark 35 years since free trade accord

Landmark pact, which cut tariffs, contributed to development of entire region and to Israel’s recent peace deals in the Gulf, says Israeli Economy Minister Peretz

By Jake Epstein

An illustrative image of a stack of multicolored credit cards (alexialex; iStock by Getty Images)

October 26, 2020, 12:20 pm

Four startups join Visa’s innovation center in Tel Aviv

Innovation Studio in Tel Aviv, set up two and a half years ago, aims to connect companies’ new payment solutions with Visa’s network of merchants

By Jake Epstein

Illustrative image of a spacecraft launch into space (forplayday; iStock by Getty Images)

October 21, 2020, 10:24 am

Florida, Israel call on firms to bid for joint aerospace R&D funding

Projects will be awarded funding for a total of $2 million if they show promising partnerships, near-future commercialization potential, economic benefit to Israel and Florida

By Jake Epstein

A Tech2Peace online event. The nonprofit uses technology to create dialogue and collaborations between Israelis and Palestinians (Courtesy)

October 19, 2020, 12:21 pm

Israelis, Palestinians learn lessons of conflict and trust from Northern Ireland

In a virtual event held by bridge-building nonprofit Tech2Peace, local youth try to see the other side’s narrative with the help of a veteran advocate for Protestant-Catholic peace

By Jake Epstein

Participants get creative on their laptops during a seminar at Tech2Peace, September 2020 (Micha Silverman)

October 7, 2020, 11:04 am

Safe crossing: Israeli, Palestinian seek smoother transfer of patients and info

Prize-winning app idea aims to stop crucial health details from being lost as West Bank Palestinians go by ambulance to checkpoint, then by another ambulance to Israeli hospital

By Jake Epstein

left to right: Nicola Mansour, Gal Dvir and Sally Awad Asfour, co-founders of BlockIT (Courtesy)

August 26, 2020, 2:06 pm

Arab-Jewish ‘partnership of equals’ startup BlockIT aims to bring fun to school

Co-founders develop educational toy kit for virtual & real life game; diversity brings new ways of thinking and breaks down prejudices too, they say

By Jake Epstein