Dr Yesha / Prof Yesha

My MIXiii 2014 Summary: Peres, Liu, 6000 people and me

Yesha Sivan
Left to right: Prof. Yesha Sivan, Israel President Shimon Peres , and
H.E. Mme. Liu Yandong, Vice Premier, State Council, P.R.China

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure to co-chair the MIXiii 2014 conference — where we mixed Israel, Innovation and the International audience, etc. This is a short summary of my perspective mostly to capture my own learning as well as the highlights from MIXiii PR firm.

To my own lessons: we got over 1000 pictures, and I chose this one that portray some of these forces.

Well, President Peres represents Isarel, Madam Liu represents the International. The people around — led by ladies —  represent Innovation, and I – I represent the MIX 🙂

Building such a mixed conference is always hard: lots of competing agendas and lots of egos. But at the end we made it. Many thanks to the co-chairs Yoav Chelouche (my Co-chair for the high-tech side), Ruth Alon and Benny Zeevi (from the BioMed Side). Of course to Avi Hason, the Government Chief Scientist who drove the government side and really enforced the international side of the event, and to to the team led by Lyne Ann. 

Highlights: MIXiii Israel Innovation Conference, May 20-22, 2014

  • MIXiii Opened With Fireside Chat With President Shimon Peres

  • Over 6,000 In Attendance

  • 300-Person Chinese Delegation

  • Large delegations also present are from India and Hong Kong.


The MIXiii Israel Innovation Conference, a first-of-its-kind event in the world, began on Tuesday, May 20 at the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds. Hundreds of startups and well-known companies presented innovations at this unique conference in which both Life Sciences and High-tech events were running side-by-side, each exhibiting in separate venues, with the audience free to move from one location to the other without limitation. MIXiii was presented by Israel Advanced Technology Industries (IATI), the largest umbrella organization in Israel for the high tech and life science sectors. For more info, contact IATI here.


The event began with a Welcome Event hosted by MIXiii’s Chairpersons. Yoav Chelouche welcomed tech guests and Ruti Alon welcomed the BioMed and Life Science tech community. Israel’s Chief Scientist Avi Hasson welcomed China’s Vice Premier H.E Mme. Liu Yandong, Vice Premier, State Council, P.R China, who delivered the keynote speech. Liu highly praised Israeli innovation and spoke about the warm relations and bond between China and Israel.


Vice Premier H.E Mme. Liu Yandong: “China sees Israel as an important partner for innovation. Our two countries are complementary to each other in science and technology. We should explore the potential of sci-tech cooperation and facilitate joint research and development in a wide range of areas, so as to upgrade China-Israel cooperation to a new level.”


This year’s conference had a special focus on China, underlined by the attendance of a 300-member Chinese delegation. There were also very large delegations this year from India and Hong Kong.


The keynote speech was followed by a Fireside Chat with The Honorable President of the State of Israel, Mr. Shimon Peres, hosted by Wired UK Magazine Editor, David Rowan. The highlight of the chat was definitely President Peres taking a selfie with David’s camera. The photo is already going viral across Twitter!

There were a number of significant announcements made during the event, including:

  • Microsoft Israel announced its next accelerator program, with BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), a leading global medical technology company, which will focus on health tech.
  • Israel inked several tech agreements with China’s Silicon Valley, with 350 delegates from China in attendance.
  • Samsung Electronics’ President Jung Son, announced new investments in digital health.  According to Jung Son, the company will expand its operations in medical monitoring and will invest in several Israeli companies operating in the field.
  • US pharmaceutical giant Merck (known in Israel as MSD) signed a cooperation agreement with the Chief Scientist of Israel through which Merck will choose to collaborate with one of the Israeli life science companies identified in the agreement, and the Chief Scientist and Merck will provide matching support.


Day One Highlights included:


  • The CEO Panel, moderated by Dr. Yossi Vardi, featured Michel Combes (CEO, Alcatel Lucent); Weili Dai (President and Co-Founder, Marvell Technology Group); Barry Greene (President & COO, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals); and Charles N. Kahn III (President and CEO, Federation of American Hospitals.)
  • Erez Vigodman, President and CEO of Teva presented a Keynote address on ‘Winning in the Age of Revolution.’
  • Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat spoke at the Happy Hour BioJerusalem reception.


The first day ended with the MIXiii 2014 Gala Event.


Day Two Highlights included:


  • Breakfast Reception with Matimop: Israel’s Chief Scientist discussed promoting a joint industrial R&D grant program.
  • Alcatel-Lucent CEO Michel Combes announced plans to open a Bell Labs research center in Kfar Saba, near Tel Aviv to help the French network-equipment company make advances in Cloud technology. Prof. Danny Raz of the Technion Israel Institute of Technology will manage  the company’s CloudBand unit.
  • Dr. C. Martin Harris, CIO and Chairman, Cleveland Clinic, presented a Keynote lecture on ‘The Role of Integrated Technologies in the Innovation of Medical Practice.’ “The Internet offers a new way of delivering healthcare to patients worldwide,” says Harris.
  • Prof Daniel Tsiddon, Deputy CEO of Leumi group and Chairman Leumi Tech opened the IATI Multinationals Companies Forum discussing Israeli Innovation and the nature of the StartUp Nation. The panel included top executives from Microsoft, Dell, IBM, Alcatel-Lucent and the Eastman Kodak Company
  • Yael Glassman, VP Marketing  & Business Development for Sensible Medical, moderated a popular Panel Discussion: Opportunities and Challenges of Connected Health.
  • Avi Reichental, CEO, 3D System, presented a fascinating talk on the various uses of 3D printing in medicine, manufacturing and even fashion.
  • Hanan Lavy, Director of Microsoft Ventures Tel-Aviv Accelerator, chaired the Top Startup Pitch Session showcasing new innovative companies.


Day Three Highlights included:


  • Mr. Naftali Bennett, Israel’s Minister of Economy, opened the ‘Building Innovation Ecosystems,’ session which was chaired by Avi Hasson, Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Economy, Israel. Bennet says, “”Israeli innovation is more like thousands of speed boats rather than a huge ship. We are flexible, speedy and agile”
  • UK Ambassador Matthew Gould attended at a reception in the UK Israel Partnership Booth.
  • Yahal Zilka, Managing Partner at Magma VC moderated a fascinating discussion on startup investments. Claudia Fan Munce, Managing Director, IBM Venture Capital Group, Vice President, IBM Corporate Strategy says, “Israel is THE most respectful innovation hub in the world.”


Congratulations to all of the 2014 Startup winners!


Biomed: 1. Polypid, 2. Telesofia Medical, 3. Abracadabra Robotics.
High-Tech: 1. Eco Wave Power, 2 VocalZoom, 3.SQreamTech

Even more coverage


*La start-up nation en mode demo | Agefi.co
www.agefi.com/

*Podemos aprender de Israel pero no copiar su sistema
ABC.es

*Tecnología, al rescate de diabéticos
CNNExpansión.com

IT Firms Welcomed by Israeli Counterparts – The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com

Hong Kong Business Leaders Impressed With Israeli Innovation
Algemeiner

Cap sur l’Asie au salon israélien de l’innovation, MIXiii
siliconwadi.fr

The Tower | You can see the whole Middle East from here.
www.thetower.org/

Tecnología combate la pobreza: Israel – Digitallpost.mx
www.digitallpost.mx

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