{"id":3093,"date":"2020-11-23T11:11:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-23T11:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/innovationisrael.org.il\/en\/?post_type=press_release&p=3093"},"modified":"2023-11-19T08:11:05","modified_gmt":"2023-11-19T08:11:05","slug":"announcing-recipients-of-funding-for-pilot-programs-with-state-owned-companies","status":"publish","type":"press_release","link":"https:\/\/innovationisrael.org.il\/en\/press_release\/announcing-recipients-of-funding-for-pilot-programs-with-state-owned-companies\/","title":{"rendered":"Announcing recipients of funding for pilot programs with state-owned companies:"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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The Government Companies Authority and the Israel Innovation Authority published recipients of funding for pilot programs with state-owned companies: Grants worth NIS 13 million awarded to 14 startups & other companies for pilot projects involving national infrastructures<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jerusalem, Israel, November 23, 2020 – The Israel Innovation Authority Research Committee yesterday published its decision to approve grants for the implementation of pilot programs on infrastructures provided by government companies. The objective of the program is to support advances in Israeli technology while enhancing the technological capabilities of state-owned companies. As part of the program, the Israel Innovation Authority and the Government Companies Authority issued a Call for Proposals for companies developing innovative technologies and seeking to test them on infrastructure provided by government companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The “Pilot Sites” include the Port of Ashdod, the Israel Electric Corporation transmission grid, a water desalination plant run by the Mekorot company, National Roads Company of Israel construction projects, including bridges, information systems and test sites of the Ayalon Highways Company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following this joint initiative of the Israel Innovation Authority and the Government Companies Authority (GCA), the GCA will collaborate with some 14 Israeli startups and other companies in order to develop technologies that will improve the services provided by the state-owned companies, cut costs and ultimately boost public wellbeing. The Government Companies Authority estimates that the successful implementation of these technologies will save the Israeli economy tens of billions of Shekels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After an in-depth review of all submissions by teams comprised of experts acting on behalf of the Israel Innovation Authority and representatives of the Government Companies Authority, and following deliberations by the Israel Innovation Authority’s Research Committee, the companies were approved to carry out the pilot projects and to receive grants of up to 50% of the projects’ costs. Startups which meet certain criteria, such as being located in geographically peripheral areas of the country, were granted an additional 10%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yanki Quint, Director of the Government Companies Authority<\/strong>: “This is the third year running that government companies have made their infrastructure accessible to Israeli startups. This year, many resources were invested in marketing the program and increasing its budgets. To our delight, we received many high-quality proposals, exceeding expectations. The programs that were selected, following careful screening, have the highest potential for success and for providing the most significant contribution to the Israeli economy, both improving the bottom lines of state-owned companies and making an overall contribution to public service.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aharon Aharon, CEO of the Israel Innovation Authority<\/strong>: “The Pilot Programs create a “win-win” outcome \u2013 both for state-owned companies as well as for the participating startups. This program enables startups to test and implement their products and technologies at government pilot sites, while advancing both regulations and Israeli infrastructure. The regulatory constraints placed on state-owned companies, while restrictive, can often be an essential driving force in the development of technological products. In light of the first pilot program and the data we received, we\u2019ve seen that new technologies managed to reach maturity faster, enabling them to be sold globally or to help establish complete companies in Israel. It should be noted that due to this program, state-owned companies are exposed to Israeli high-tech products – and, as a result, incorporate innovation and greater efficiency into their internal processes.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the difficulties for fledgling startups is gaining access to suitable infrastructure in order to test their products in a real-world environment. This difficulty is even more pronounced when trying to gain access to national infrastructure, such as electric power stations and transmission sites, water desalination and pumping sites, ports, highways, railways and more. The joint pilots program, which includes a variety of state-owned companies, has made it possible for such infrastructure to be made accessible, creating unique public-private collaborations. 
In conjunction with the Israel Innovation Authority\u2019s publication of the call for proposals, the various state-owned companies also published their own calls for proposals, asking startups for proposals to test their products at state-owned companies\u2019 sites. The state-owned companies received dozens of applications, identified the most suitable ones, and eventually submitted about 36 of them to be evaluated by the Israel Innovation Authority and the Government Companies Authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"arrow\"The following is a summary of the programs that were approved:  <\/p>\n\n\n\n