Israel’s 3 new technology trends for 2023
Before the new year, the Israel Innovation Authority announced that it will launch three innovation consortia, focusing on integrated photonics, metamaterials and metasurfaces, and black soldier fly farming.
Aviv Zeevi, VP Technological Infrastructure at the IIA, explained that the funding provided for these new consortia “forms part of the authority’s strategy to encourage high-risk endeavors within the Israeli technology industry, while developing new core capabilities that enable penetration into enabling ground-breaking new markets. with disruptive technologies, both for startups and large corporations.”
Integrated Photonics
The integrated photonics consortium will investigate light as a tool for data processing, chips and communication and interception systems.
In 2021, the market for silicon photonics is estimated to be worth $1.1 billion by MarketAndMarket, and is expected to increase to $4.6 billion by 2027.
Integrated photonic light is a stepping stone to the development of a quantum computer, Zeevi explained. This consortium will also seek to advance a small volume, lightweight gyro with mid-range accuracy for short navigation; comb laser for multi-channel optical communication; and a platform to significantly reduce volume for high powered airborne laser systems.
Israeli companies participating in this consortium are Elop, Cielo, Quantum Source and New Photonics, along with researchers Ilya Goykhman from the Technion, Avi Zadok and Boris Desiatov from Bar-Ilan University, and Uriel Levy, Dan Marom and Liron Stern from the Hebrew University. Work to manufacture SiN4 components will be subcontracted and performed by Tower Semiconductors.
Metamaterials
The metamaterials and metasurfaces consortium will focus on intelligent combinations of nano- or microstructures to create artificial electromagnetic materials that enable the manipulation of the electromagnetic wave traveling through the material.
It is intended to enable highly efficient reengineering of the fields and flows of energy, to produce unconventional mirrors, thin lenses, tunable antennas, wide-angle absorbers and more. The applications will include communications and optics.
Members of the consortium include Elbit Systems, Ceragon, SatixFy Communications, Galel, Spectralics, SDC, PCB, OPSYS, FVMAT and IKOM, and research groups from the Technion, Hebrew University, Weizmann Institute, Tel Aviv University, Ariel University, Bar-Ilan University and Ben-Gurion University.
Black soldier flies
The black soldier flight consortium will seek to advance alternative proteins, artificial intelligence and the circular economy in one research project.
The black soldier fly (BSF) feeds on organic waste and can convert it into quality products such as proteins and oils. Today, BSF products are only approved to feed livestock, but may one day be used as a base for human food, cosmetics and medicine.
The eight Israeli companies participating in the consortium are: FreezeM, Ambar, Shachar Group, NRGene, Neomena, Entoprotech, Bagira and Rafael Feed Mills together with research groups from the Volcani Center, MIGAL, Haifa University, Tel Aviv University and Hebrew University. They will collaborate on aspects such as breeding, health, nutrition and scalability of BSF.
