Israel Innovation conference (MIXiii)

WELCOME LETTER

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

It is with great pleasure and pride that we invite our old and new friends to attend the Israel Innovation conference, which will be the first in the world where Biomed and High-tech will join hands in a unique and exciting new international conference format. The conference will take place at the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds May 20-22, 2014.

You must have heard of Israel as a start-up nation. We are flattered! Yet we want to introduce you to the much broader spectrum of activities and ecosystem in which we operate, making Israel one of the largest global innovation hubs.

This new format led by IATI will also bring the government perspective through the involvement of the Chief Scientist (OCS) of the Israeli Ministry of Economy. We believe that this new format will highlight both the opportunities and the challenges "beyond the start-up nation".

IATI is Israel's umbrella organization representing the various constituents of the nation's advanced technologies, be it high-tech, biomed, multi-national corporations, start-ups, incubators, accelerators, technology transfer offices of academic institutions, venture capital funds, service providers and more.

The OCS of the Israeli Ministry of Economy is charged with the execution of government policy for the support of innovation and industrial R&D. The goal of the OCS is to assist and encourage entrepreneurship, foster innovation, and promote R&D collaboration both locally and globally.

It is the DNA of the Israeli entrepreneurs, the local venture capital community and the Government incentive programs that allow companies in the High-tech and Biomed fields to flourish and expand operations well beyond the start-up status.

What is planned for May 20-22 is for the Biomed and High-tech conferences to be run side-by-side; each exhibiting its own sectors and activities in separate venues, with the audience free to move from one location to the other without limitation. The OCS annual R&D Conference will also merge with Israel Innovation Week, bringing the government perspectives and exhibitions of the OCS programs into the new format. The Biomed and High-tech venues will include lectures, company presentations and exhibitions. While each event will cater to the participants of its respective agenda, the event will also include joint sessions covering topics of mutual interest to the entire advanced technology industries including: perspectives of innovation and R&D policy and the convergence of technologies between High-tech and Biomed and other factors of the Israeli eco-sector.