Sunday, December 31, 2006

New Zealand ICT Technology Capability Map

Based on its LightSpeedAnalyst mapping methodology, d&a has created a mapping of New Zealand's ICT (Information & Communication Technology) arena for the New Zealand Trade & Enterprise.

The New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) is the New Zealand government's national economic development agency. Through the NZTE's network of offices worldwide, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise aims to grow New Zealand's economy by boosting the capability of businesses and regions and facilitating their sustainable and profitable participation in overseas markets.

The NZTE ICT Technology Capability Map covers the following industries:
Communications
IT
Payment
Transport & Logistics
The industries covered by the ICT map are widely regarded as areas in which New Zealand companies have a competitive edge. The capability map represents over 300 New Zealand companies, and aims to showcase the "best and brightest" ICT companies working in these sub-sectors.
To view the online ICT map, click here.

Sunday, December 03, 2006

Israel's CleanTech Market: Highlights

With an outstanding track record in innovative technologies and highly skilled workers, Israel is widely considered one of the leading markets for investing. Nowadays, the growing CleanTech industry in Israel is attracting mounting attention and increasing awareness. Israel already has some successes in the CleanTech industry as well as some promising companies. Investment interests and opportunities are naturally growing and it seems there are more and more prospects for new and promising investments to be made. More information you can find in Israel Renewable & Alternative Energy Report.

Note: The Report has been refined and updated! Check it out - Israel Clean Technology Report 2008

10 Points You Should Know About Israel's CleanTech Industry


Definition – CleanTech is an interdisciplinary industry focusing on preserving the earth's resources – energy, water and air.

Companies – There are 320 companies in Israel that can be defined as specializing in the CleanTech field.

Water – Water is the largest industry in Israel. There are approximately 220 companies that focus on the water industry. The scope of water technologies exports in Israel this year will stand on 1.2 billion dollars.

The largest company in the water field – The largest company in Israel focusing on water is Netafim. The scope of sales this year will exceed half a billion dollars.

The largest company in the energy field - The largest company in Israel focusing on alternative energy is Ormat. Ormat's sales will reach 300 million dollars this year.

Growth – The fastest growing CleanTech company in Israel is Solel. The company's sales will reach between 80-100 million dollars in 2007, in comparison to 3 million dollars last year.

Investments – In the last two years, over 300 million dollars were invested in the CleanTech industry. The largest investment was made in Netafim.

"Hottest" fields – The "hottest" fields in Israel are water purification and solar energy.

Initiatives – In the last two years, over 13 investment bodies were established in the CleanTech industry; of them 4 incubators.

Biodiesel – Israeli companies have implemented investments worth 200 million dollars in the Biodiesel field.
For more information about Israel Renewable & Alternative Energy please click here.

Explore Israel's Hi-Tech World in Chinese

光速分析家LSA
以色列版的光速分析家为中国实体,企业,投资者,公司等提供一个直接通向整个以色列高科技商业环境的渠道,使他们能够定位和识别以色列科技领域有创新的公司和科学技术。


光速分析家LSA( www.lightspeedanalyst.com/china) 是 d&a 公司的在线绘图定位/导航应用,提供研究成果和及时追踪,使用户能够 :
· 在他们的商业生态系统中搜索和定位高科技公司和/或科技
· 简易地浏览和理解行业的总体情况
· 与同领域的同行分享重要信息
通过使用在线绘图平台,用户可以做出与商业投资,竞争者,公司,科技等相关的更英明和更优化的商业决断。

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

CleanTech Israel

The Renewable and Alternative Energy Conference was held at the David InterContinental Hotel in Tel Aviv, Israel on November 8, 2006. The event was part of the Israeli Prime Minister's Conference's Event and attracted both Israeli and worldwide senior speakers and guests.

The event examined the current energy situation, trends and market drivers, and highlighted opportunities and promising Israeli companies in the industry. It also explored ways to boost Israel's participation in the growing Alternative/Renewable Energy economy.

Israel has over 100 companies that are engaged in developing technologies in the Alternative and Renewable Energy arena.More Information about Israel Cleantech you can find here

d&a has created and designed the 2006 ISRAEL RENEWABLE AND ALTERNATIVE ENERGY tech-knowledge map for the Renewable and Alternative Energy Conference. The map covers Israeli researchers focusing on solar energy and non-solar energy, as well as Israeli companies specializing in efficiency energy consumption and alternative energy technologies.

The tech-knowledge map is based on the LightSpeedAnalyst mapping methodology, enabling viewers to visually comprehend and analyze the array of leading players in a specific technology field.

View some interesting Israeli companies, divided into fields of specialty:

Monitoring Systems
Red Herring listed among its Top 10 Private Cleantech Companies the following two companies:

SATEC
SATEC develops electrical power instruments, manufacturing digital power-meters and power quality analysis equipment. The company supplies instruments to power utility companies and process industries, including electronics and petroleum companies. SATEC also appears on our Industrial Technologies map.

Comverge
Comverge supplies the solution platforms that innovate energy management. The company powers information infrastructures with its PowerCamp software suite to meet the needs of energy suppliers. The company also appears on our Enterprise Software map.

Geothermal Energy Production
Ormat
ORMAT specializes in the development and manufacture of power systems. ORMAT Energy Converter (OEC) units, combined into modular power plants with a capacity of 200 kW to 130 MW, use locally available heat sources, including geothermal energy (steam and hot water), recovered energy generation, biomass and solar energy.

Non Perishable Materials
Levgum
Levgum develops a rubber devulcanization technology, turning rubber recycling into a commercially viable, environmentally clean enterprise.

Wind & Air Energy Production
Sharav Sluices
Sharav Sluices develops a technology to produce renewable electric power from dry air in very large quantities and at low cost, along with water desalinization at approximately half the cost of current methods.

Water Treatment
Amiad Filtration Systems
Amiad is a manufacturer of water filtration solutions for all filtration requirements. Amiad serves the irrigation, industrial, and municipal markets.

NanoTechnology
Cima NanoTech
Cima NanoTech manufactures nanomaterial-based products for use in electronics applications. These products include conductive inks and pastes for inkjet and conventional printing of electronics. The company's technologies can achieve high conductivity and help improve overall performance, both of the circuits and the systems in which they are employed.

A.H.T (Advanced Heating Technologies)
Advanced Heating Technologies specializes in the development of technologies and applications in the fields of heating and fusion. AHT develops technologies related to amorphous and nanocrystalline materials through which materials are transformed into a solid state using thermal shock while still maintaining their non-crystalline structure. The process results in materials with superior magnetic, electrical, mechanical and chemical properties. AHT's technology can be applied to under-carpet heating elements, space heaters, fans, electric kettles, and similar devices.

Energy Nano Processor
Energy Nano Processor (ENP) develops critical components for the improvement of direct methanol fuel cells (DM-FC). The company develops a new type of electrode that will provide functional and cost superiority.

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Telecom Israel

The Telecom Israel 2006 Exhibition will take place between November 6-8, 2006 at the Tel-Aviv Fairgrounds. In Telecom Israel 2006, the Israeli telecom industry will introduce its most recent innovations to the international telecom community.

Israel is acknowledged as a technological innovator; a major share of local service providers, networks and applications was designed and produced by Israeli companies.

d&a has created and designed the 2006-2007 ISRAEL TELECOM tech-knowledge map for the Telecom Israel 2006 Event. The map depicts 4 key Telecom industries:

Digital Entertainment
Telecom Equipment
Home Networking
Mobile Communications


The ISRAEL TELECOM tech-knowledge map is based on the LightSpeedAnalyst mapping methodology, enabling viewers to visually comprehend and analyze the array of leading players in a specific technology field.
View some interesting Israeli companies, divided into fields of specialty:
Mobile TV & Video Solutions
RADVision develops rich media communications platforms and software development solutions. RADVISION offers IP communications products that support both voice only, and combined voice, video, and data communications.
Siano develops silicon solutions for the mobile market, tailored specifically for hand-held communications and entertainment devices.
Altair is a fabless IC company providing silicon solutions for the mobile broadband market.
WIMAX
Alvarion specializes in wireless broadband providing systems to carriers, ISPs and private network operators, as well as full GSM and CDMA specialized network solutions and cost efficient cellular mobile network extensions.
Home Networking - Wifi
Metalink develops silicon solutions for the broadband experience by facilitating the convergence of telecommunication, networking and entertainment. Metalink’s WLAN and DSL technologies
are designed to enable true broadband connectivity in every home.
IPTV
Optibase develops broadband media gateways and MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 encoding and streaming platforms. The company’s products are geared towards the digital video networking and streaming over IP networks, enabling applications such as video streaming in the enterprise and TV entertainment over IP networks.
ECI Telecom specializes in integrated network solutions, and develops digital telecommunications and data transmission systems to network service providers.
NDS supplies open end-to-end digital pay-TV solutions for the secure delivery of entertainment and information to television set-top boxes and IP devices.
SDP
Comverse provides software and systems enabling network-based multimedia enhanced communications services.
Amdocs provides CRM and billing products and services to global communications service providers and enterprises, and business support systems for directory publishing companies.
Security
Verint provides analytic software solutions for communications interception, digital video security and surveillance, and enterprise business intelligence.
NICE develops multimedia digital recording solutions, applications and related professional services for business interaction management, targeted towards contact centers, trading floors, air traffic control (ATC) sites, CCTV (closed circuit television) security installations and government markets.
Radware develops products that manage and direct Internet traffic among network resources to enable continuous access to Web sites and services, applications and content based on the Internet protocol.
Aladdin specializes in digital security, providing organizations with solutions for software commerce and Internet security.
Check Point develops Internet security solutions including Virtual Private Network (VPN) and firewall markets.
Flash Memory
M-Systems develops data storage solutions based on flash memory for markets, such as mobile phones, PDAs, set-top boxes, embedded systems, military/rugged applications, PCs and laptops.
Saifun provides IP solutions for the non-volatile memory (NVM) market.
VOIP
VocalTec provides packet voice solutions for carriers and service providers.
AudioCodes enables the new voice infrastructure by developing Voice over Packet technology, products and Media Gateway system solutions to telecom and datacom network equipment providers and systems integrators.
Medical/Healthcare Mobile
Card Guard develops telemedicine systems and monitoring services for both high-risk and chronically ill patients, as well as for ordinary consumers of health products.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Military Capital

The war which took place in the North is probably going to increase, both in the short, and long run, demands for products of certain companies in the capital market, primarily companies in the security field, but others as well. *Investors – For your information

Israel's Homeland Security Map

War and the capital market usually don’t go hand in hand. War increases uncertainty, disrupts plans, takes up resources and causes indirect and direct losses to companies. However, there are several companies in the capital market that for them the war, with all its sadness, served as a good deal. Intuitively, the first companies that come to mind are the security ones, but they are not alone.

The war gains can find expression in two manners: temporary gains for the short run, for example as a result of the military’s need to renew its shell inventory or to increase its reserve of tanks; and long term gains, that will be the result of the war changing the security paradigm or the combat doctrine, thus having significant consequences on society. We will attempt to examine the companies (according to their activity focuses) that are likely to enjoy an increase in demands as a result of the war.

Shielding: The war exposed the vulnerability of the AVF (Armored Fighting Vehicle) and the tanks to anti-tank missiles. The existent shielding nowadays for such vehicles is primarily passive. As far as it is known, there are no companies focusing on active shielding in the stock market. Companies that are close to this field that are traded on the Stock Exchange include Spectronix, that specializes in development and production of quick fire extinguishing systems for AVFs; and another company – FMS, that specializes in developing lightweight ballistic armor materials for personal protection, vehicular and aircraft armor manufacturers.

Visual Intelligence and Locating targets in Real-Time: In fighting against guerillas, when the enemy is not massive but, rather, is comprised of carefully camouflaged individuals, the need arises for target-locating capabilities, decoding and responding in near to real-time. In this sector, the IDF is one of the most advanced armies in the world, and Elbit, which develops various platforms in this area, is one of the leading ones worldwide. Another company dealing in this field is Data JCE, which, through its subsidiary Unisor, develops technologies for transferring video in real-time in narrow-band and excellent quality. Despite the product still being in the development stages, it is already being experimented at Rafael and Elbit. Another company related to visual intelligence developments, but not in real-time, is Tiltan, a subsidiary of Matrix, that developed a graphic engine generating a 3D display view for trainers and command and control systems (of enemy villages, for example) and incorporating a real-time video with static models. Tiltan is a strongly growing company.

Control: One of the problems in combat in built-up areas or in thick vegetation areas is the ability to control and coordinate forces. Tadiran Kesher is the leading company in developing solutions in this field. In the last year, the company has gone through a slow down in sales, but it is quite probable that there will be a demand for its solutions.

Reserve duty equipment: The reservists have raised a severe problem, stating lack of proper personal shielding i.e. helmets, bulletproof vests and other equipment. Rabintex focuses on these fields. The company specializes in military textiles, manufacturing personal protection equipment and armored systems. If the IDF intends on issuing new equipment to its soldiers, and in large amounts, it seems that Rabintex will be the first to enjoy from it.

Media: Undoubtedly, the great winner of the war is the media. One of the companies providing mobile media services is RRSat of Kardan and Intergamma. We believe that this company will enjoy an unprecedented increase in its income in the present quarter. The company’s present situation is also not bad. Additional companies that usually enjoy periods of war are those that provide international communication services, such as Kavei Zahav and Bezeq.

Construction and Repairs: Such companies as Klil, which markets aluminum systems for windows (construction and industry) and Tambour and Nirlat, which focus on paint, are likely to enjoy a small increase in the scope of sales in the aftermath of all the repair jobs following the war.

Civilian Shielding: Arpal has indeed developed shock-resistant window frames, and complies with the American standard, but the prices of the windows are quite high, and there is still not enough public awareness for the solution, therefore it seems that we will not witness a considerable rise in the scope of orders for such windows, in the aftermath of the war.


Author: Gil Sadeh, Research & Analysis Project Manager, d&a hi-tech information
Source: Yedioth Ahronoth
Translation: Lee-At Green, d&a hi-tech information

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

The 10 Leading R&D Centers in Israel

Three years have gone by since we last released the classification of the leading foreign hi-tech R&D centers in Israel. Since then, the US has invaded Iraq, the NASDAQ has slightly recuperated and the global financial hub has been shifting towards South East Asia. We've currently decided to re-evaluate the situation and to see whether Israel still serves as an attractive zone for foreign technological companies. Here goes…

Entered Israel
The main reason behind the establishment of R&D centers in Israel is the acquirement of technology; Israel serves as a substantial source of innovation, and as can be witnessed, in the last three years, over 130 technological Israeli companies have been acquired. A significant part of the acquisitions have been made by companies that already have presence in Israel i.e. Intel, Cisco, BMC, and CA, however the Israeli innovation has tempted some additional global technological giants such as Kodak, Agfa, EMC (which came back), Google, Alcatel, eBAY, Oracle, Juniper and more.

The scope and amount of companies being acquired is certainly impressive, but we suggest referring to the figures with a bit of skepticism, because past experience shows that a considerable number of foreign R&D centers in Israel closed shortly after they were acquired, and their technologies were eventually transferred.

From our experience, there are 2 indicators for long-term survival chances for a foreign R&D center in Israel:

The larger the scope of the acquisition (in money and human resource terms) and the larger the acquiring company – the more likely the R&D center's chance of survival.
The R&D center is established in a planned way, and not via the acquisition of an Israeli company.

The amount of foreign R&D centers that are set-up in a planned manner is relatively small, but, as aforementioned, Israel's technological capabilities attract large entities; and in the last three years, we can mention such prominent names as Samsung and Google, who established R&D centers in Israel. Judging by the "square meters" Google has rented in office space, it seems like the company is planning to hire many more developers.

Exited Israel
In the last three years, several of the leading R&D centers in Israel have shut down such as Serono, Terayon, Infineon and Analog Devices. Usually, the closing down of the R&D centers emanates from three main reasons: Organizational – the company changes its organizational structure; Personality (personnel) – When a CEO in the corporation is replaced; and has no obligations to the one he replaced; and Economic – hardships in the "main" company that require cutbacks.

So basically, what's left?
In practice, Israel deserves a "high score" for the last three years. In spite of the hi-tech crisis, the Intifada (uprising), and the supply of cheap workforce in India and the Far East, Israel still serves as an attractive location; the scope of foreign R&D center activities in Israel has been showing a constant upsurge, and nowadays there are over 30,000 families in Israel employed in foreign R&D centers.

Summary & Forecast
The hi-tech industry is going through a quick maturing process accompanied by consolidation (convergence by mergers & acquisitions). The consolidation process won't pass over Israel, and in the short run we are to witness additional Israeli companies being acquired and a relative increase in the number of hi-tech workers employed by foreign companies. The consolidation may not necessarily be at Israel's advantage because large corporations act in a cold manner in turbulent times. Many R&D centers may shut down and leave behind an entire industry in a hopeless situation.

The 10 leading companies

Classification of the leading companies in Israel:
Criteria:
· Amount of R&D personnel
· Significance of Developments: What's the extent of responsibility that the company gives the local branch?
· Senior Executive mobility: Have top executives from the Israeli R&D center blended in the global management?
· The Dynamics of the company in Israel: Is the company expanding, implementing acquisitions and cooperating with the local industry?
· Amount of R&D personnel in comparison to those in the world

If we'd like to summarize the criteria into one question it would be: What harm will be inflicted on Israel and on the corporation if the local Israeli branch will close down one day?

1st place Intel (Formerly: 1st place)
Intel is so deep-rooted in Israel that at times we tend to forget that Intel is an American company... Intel invests extensive amounts of money in Israel regardless of the economic or political situation, and the investments aren't made as "charity causes", but rather Intel's R&D centers in Israel, especially the one situated in Haifa are a source of several of the most fundamental and important solutions of the company. Intel provides direct and indirect employment to over 10,000 families in Israel, according to above average employment conditions. Undoubtedly, Intel is the leading foreign company in Israel.

2nd place Motorola/Freescale (Formerly: 2nd place)
Due to the addition of Ed Zander, chairman and chief executive of Motorola to the company, things that seemed asleep – started moving in the super giant. The company began investing in Israeli technological companies at a higher rate than in the past, and in our opinion, it won't be long till the company makes an acquisition in Israel.

3rd place HP (Formerly: 10th place)
HP is the largest growing company in Israel. Seven years ago, there were a few dozen HP workers in Israel and today the company employs over 3,000 workers. The company has extensively widened its digital printing activities in Israel through huge investments in Indigo and the acquisition of Scitex Vision. Now, with the acquisition of Mercury, HP will undoubtedly turn into the number 2 foreign company in Israel, if things continue to stay on the right track.

4th place Marvell (Formerly: 7th place)
Marvell is one of the only companies that its stock price has gone up and surpassed the "pre-bubble" prices, and this is not by chance. The company's management is fruitful and succeeds in understanding the market and supplying its needs.

Acquiring Intel's mobile field (DSPC) will bring the amount of Marvell employees in Israel to approximately over 1,000 – this number is very high for a chip designing center, especially in light of the fact that salary costs and investments in the chip center are much higher than that of a software development center.

We are confident that the acquisition of Intel's mobile arena is not Marvell's last acquisition in Israel, and it is probable that we will witness additional acquisitions in the near future.

5th place Cisco (Formerly: 5th place)
Cisco is one of the most dynamic companies in the world – The company quickly identifies future markets and aggressively penetrates them whereas its main "arms" is acquiring technologies in these markets. In the last three years, the company has acquired 4 companies in Israel, in continuation to acquisitions it has already made in Israel. The company closely cooperates with the VC market in Israel and makes minority investments in Israeli start-ups.

6th place SAP (Formerly: 15th place)
SAP intensively recruits workers – the company's R&D centers, which are located in Ra'anana and in Carmiel already employ approximately 800 employees, and the sky's the limit. Perhaps a significant part of the growth of the Israeli branch is related to Shai Agasi's senior role in the organization, but we must remember that SAP is evaluated every quarter and at the end of the day, the R&D center in Ra'anana is evaluated according to the targets set.

7th place Kodak (Was not ranked in former list)
In the beginning of 2000, the company understood that if it wants to survive, it must turn to digitization. Since the company was a bit behind, the only way to bridge the gap was by making acquisitions, so in fact, in a short period of time, Kodak became one of the leading foreign R&D centers in Israel through a series of acquisitions, with the peak being the acquisition of the Creo R&D center. Since these acquisitions have been done in the last three years, we must wait and see how they are "digested" by the company.

8th place Applied Materials (Formerly: 3rd place)
The past three years have been good ones for the Israeli branch, which is behind many successful solutions. The company has completed its transfer to the new R&D center in Rehovot. Unlike other R&D centers, Applied Israel does it all: development, manufacturing and support. Those who wish to learn how a complex organization works efficiently should look into Applied.

9th place BMC (Formerly: 4th place)
The company is intensifying its activities in Israel all the time and is recruiting employees. This year, Identify employees will join the company. Identify was acquired by BMC in the first quarter of 2006. In relation to its general size, BMC's R&D center is one of the biggest from all the 50.

10th place IBM (Formerly: 11th place)
IBM is one of the most deep-rooted and veteran companies in Israel. In the past three years, IBM invested vast sums in buildings and equipment aimed at expanding the development lab in Haifa. The lab received larger responsibility from the mother company and simultaneously, the company is strengthening its ties with the academia and the local VC Fund community.




Author: Gilai Dolev, Director, d&a hi-tech information
Source: Yedioth Ahronoth
Translation: Lee-At Green, d&a hi-tech information

Thursday, July 27, 2006

LightSpeedAnalyst Launched

Towards the launch of the world's first-ever online mapping application - LightSpeedAnalyst - we invite C-level executives, decision-makers, VCs, companies, investment entities and other players in the hi-tech arena to examine our new business tool.