BIRD
Foundation
Newsletter |
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Message from the Executive Director |
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In July 2022, a “Joint U.S.-Israel Statement on Launching Strategic High-Level Dialogue on Technology” was issued by U.S. President, Joe Biden, and Israeli Prime Minister, Yair Lapid.
The new initiative establishes a high-level framework that will convene annually to discuss technology cooperation and technological matters of interest, to both the U.S. and Israel. It sets the goal of boosting the innovation ecosystems of both countries, and it provides a list of topics “to discuss advancing specific projects.”
Click here for the whole article.
Eitan Yudilevich, Ph.D.
Executive Director |
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BIRD Announces New BIRD Cyber Program |
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The BIRD Foundation recently launched a new program, BIRD Cyber, initiated and jointly funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T) and the Israel National Cyber Directorate (INCD).
BIRD Cyber seeks to answer national cyber security needs that are not currently being met by the market, such as cyber protection for critical infrastructure and SMBs.
DHS S&T and INCD defined four topics for which they seek solutions:
1. Secured Architecture for Protecting Core Operational Processes
2. Small to Medium Airports or Seaports Real-Time Risk Assessment Solution Pilot
3. Piloting Resilience Centers for Small and Medium Businesses and Enterprises
4. Advanced Data Fusion and Analytics
Similar to BIRD’s other programs, funding will cover up to 50% of the combined R&D budged related to the joint project. The maximum grant for a BIRD Cyber project is $1.5M.
The deadline for the submission of the executive summary is November 15, 2022, and the deadline for full-scale proposals is January 10, 2023. BIRD’s Board of Governors will select projects to be funded in March, 2023.
A webinar featuring BIRD and program sponsors, DHS Science & Technology Directorate and the Israel National Cyber Directorate (INCD), was held on September 14 (watch online). For more details about the program and for an explanation of topics, see: https://www.birdf.com/bird-cyber/. |
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Nine New Projects Approved in June, 2022 |
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On June 14, 2022, BIRD’s Board of Governors approved $7.9 million for the funding of nine new projects in BIRD’s first bi-annual general funding cycle of 2022. Among them were projects with innovation in the areas of Drones, Energy Efficiency, Environment Protection, Medical Devices, Pharma, Software and AI. |
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U.S.-Israel Cyber Energy Consortium and new BIRD Cyber Program featured at Cybertech Midwest, in Indianapolis, IN, on July 20-21, 2022 |
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U.S. and Israeli members of the Energy Cyber Consortium of the U.S.-Israel Energy Center were featured on a panel entitled "Cyber for the Physical World" at the Cybertech Midwest Conference in Indianapolis, IN, on July 20, 2022. It was the first opportunity for the consortium members to meet in person since they started their research program almost one year ago. The panel was led by the U.S. leader of the consortium, Ying-Cheng Lai of Arizona State University. Panelists included the Israeli consortium leader, Dr. Rami Puzis of Ben Gurion University, John Drikman, of Nexant, John Geiger of RAD, Adam Hahn representing The MITRE Corporation and Sukarno Mertoguno, of Georgia Tech Research Institute. The panel attracted great attention and was very well received. To watch the recorded version, go to ICRDE- Cyber for the Physical World - July 22.
The U.S.- Israel Center of Excellence for Energy, Engineering and Water Technology (Energy Center) was established by the U.S. Department of Energy, Israel Ministry of Energy and the Israel Innovation Authority to promote energy security and economic development through the research and development of innovative energy technologies.
In addition, BIRD’s East Coast/Midwest Director, Andrea Yonah, took to the stage to announce the launch of the new BIRD Cyber program on Thursday, July 21 (see newsletter article) and, together with Shiri Freund-Koren, Director of BIRD for the Southern U.S., met with attendees, showcased BIRD and discussed the new BIRD Cyber initiative.
At the conclusion of the conference, consortium members and BIRD’s U.S. representatives were invited to attend a reception hosted by Indiana’s Lt. Governor, Suzanne Crouch. |
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Left to right:
Sukarno Mertoguno - Georgia Tech, John Geiger - RAD, Adam Hahn - MITRE, Rami Puzis - Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Ying-Cheng Lai - Arizona State University, John Dirkman - Nexant, Shiri Freund Koren - BIRD Foundation, Andrea Yonah - BIRD Foundation
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BIRD Partners in NYC Host Healthcare Event Focusing on Technologies for Senior Care Facilities |
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On September 12, BIRD partnered with the Israel Economic Mission, the NYC-Israel Chamber of Commerce and the Williamsburg Hotel in Brooklyn to showcase a delegation of innovative Israeli startups from the healthcare IT industry specifically focused on technologies for older adults and senior care facilities.
Special guest, Lynn Schulman, NYC Council Member and Chair of the NYC Committee on Health and Member of the Committee on Aging, spoke about the needs of older adults in NYC including affordable housing and healthcare services.
Facility owners and decision makers from New York and New Jersey facilities including CareOne, Paz Health Kings Harbor, Gefen Senior Center, Autumn Lake and Geriatrics Longevity met with and heard pitches from Israeli companies Lavaa, Mon4t, Nonagon, Olive Diagnostics, Somatix and Vitalerter.
BIRD Grantee, Somatix, presented their joint project with U.S. partner, Senior Family Living of Bethlehem, PA. The project was approved in 2019 and allows caregivers to continuously monitor, track and analyze the daily routines of older adults in real-time using a wearable smartband and mobile app. The SafeBeing™ platform has recently been upgraded to include a unique artificial intelligence-enabled technology that can generate powerful clinical insights sent passively to clinicians from a wearable worn by patients with early to mid-stage dementia, alerting to risk of dehydration, falls, and medication compliance. |
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A networking reception was held on the rooftop of the Williamsburg Hotel with special guest Mercedes Narcisse, NYC Council Member and Chair of the Committee on Hospitals. |
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Spotlight on BIRD Projects |
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Lingacom’s muon scanner - a proven technology for the detection of shielded nuclear and radioactive materials - developed in their BIRD project with Rapiscan
Lingacom Ltd. of Tel Aviv, Israel, and Rapiscan Laboratories Inc. of Sunnyvale, CA, received a grant from the BIRD Foundation in Dec. 2013 to develop a secondary detection system that can detect subatomic particles known as muons. The technology uses cosmic ray muons to generate three-dimensional images and can detect a wide range of objects, from hidden cargo in trucks to underground formations. The company integrates its radiation-free technology with existing inspection systems and X-ray scanners.
In 2021, Lingacom successfully installed and tested a muon scanner at the Haifa Seaport for the detection of shielded nuclear and radioactive materials as part of the H2020 European Commission, a COSMIC project led by Lingacom for the detection of CBRNE substances inside shipping containers. The pilot in the Haifa seaport was a continuation of the Lingacom - Rapiscan BIRD project. Following the successful pilot at the Haifa Seaport, Lingacom plans to continue the commercialization of the muon scanner for the inspection of shipping containers. |
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Blue White Robotics and Easy Aerial successfully complete BIRD HLS project “Multi-Mission, Multi-Type HLS Drone Command & Control Capability”
Blue White Robotics and Easy Aerial successfully completed their joint BIRD HLS project which was approved by the BIRD Board of Governors in November 2019. The companies developed a platform that allows a single operator to simultaneously operate multiple drones and missions from the drone command and control center. The drones can be from different manufacturers and may be autonomous during the entire flight or manual in case of need. The name of the system is Soteria.
Blue White Robotics provides a ‘Robot as a Service’ platform which transforms traditional businesses making them autonomous and data-driven. The company develops a full autonomous stack consisting of data & fleet management platforms. The U.S. partner, Brooklyn-based Easy Aerial, develops fully autonomous drone-based solutions for perimeter security and incident management. Easy Aerial’s Smart Aerial Monitoring System uses autonomous UASs that are deployed from a mobile or stationary launchpad and housed in a box.
The companies have demonstrated the Soteria solution in recent months to customers - mainly HLS companies and agencies that operate multiple drones. Among them are disaster recovery and management projects in Japan, the U.S. Air Force, Space-X, a UAE HLS agency, and others. |
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