Hi Shlomi,
Happy holidays! The Israel trip is coming together well. Matan has been very helpful. (I have copied him here because this update is pretty comprehensive, and I should fill him in.)
Following your suggestion, I have reached out to IAI/ELTA to see if they would like to meet in Ashdod when I visit Tel Aviv. Two or three of our groups met with them last spring, so I think they will be open to it.
At your suggestion, I also reached out to Technion (through my IBM contacts, since IBM has a research facility in Haifa and they sometimes work with Technion). I might fit in a brief visit to Technion on Tuesday the 29th.
It turns out the Deputy CEO of Partner Communications Israel was attending INDC (or maybe he is/was teaching there), so Matan linked me up with him. I emailed him my request for a meeting on the 28th, and am waiting to hear back. I am hoping they are willing to talk about the rollout of 5G capabilities in Israel.
My efforts to reach out to Google AI in Israel have not yet been successful, so I am starting to fill-up the schedule with other visits. I also reached out to the Viola Group to see if they would like to meet, but so far there has been no response. If there is a better VC firm to reach out to there, please let me know. I keyed on them because I think MG Veruv mentioned their name specifically during our conversation last June.
I will definitely meet with IBM Research in Haifa, and I am trying to set something up with Intel too (at their manufacturing plant in Kiryat Gat, or at one of their R&D facilities in Jerusalem, Petah Tikva, or Haifa). My contact also suggested possibly visiting Mobileye, an Intel company that is working on an autonomous vehicle collision avoidance solution. It appears Mobileye is in Jerusalem. Nothing is firm yet, as my U.S. contact at Intel has to reach out through various intermediaries, like I do.
Elbit agreed to meet right away, so that's all set for 31 October -- possibly shifting to the 28th.
I have a brief meeting set up with the NCSA (and many other government officials) on the 27th, but so far no one from the Israel National Cyber Directorate (INCD)(Ma'arach) has agreed to meet with me. I think NCSA's former DG (Mr. Yigal Unna) spoke to our groups last spring, but he has since moved up another notch to lead all of INCD, I believe.
The light day in the schedule is currently Thursday, 31 October, in Beer Sheva. Sean O'Brien told me I could easily spend the whole day there, but so far I have not yet heard back from Ben-Gurion University (BGU) Cyber Excellence Center or the National CERT in Beer Sheva (part of NCSA). If you or Matan has contacts there, please let me know.
The best day for a visit to your organization near Haifa still appears to be the afternoon/evening of Tuesday, 29 October, but I would prefer to shift it to Monday evening the 28th, schedule permitting (after meetings around Tel Aviv). That way, I won't have to drive all the way back to my hotel in Jerusalem for the night of the 29th.
I have not yet heard back from MG Edelstein (he replied back to ISMO but not to me, so I don't have his contact info). It's no issue, really, because planning has been progressing well.
I have also not yet confirmed a visit to BG Sariel near Beer Sheva because I should wait a little longer to see if the visits to BGU, National CERT, or the Gav Yam Advanced Technologies Park become real. Time permitting, I will take BG Sariel up on his offer to visit his base briefly at the end of my October trip.
Last weekend, I finished "Startup Nation" -- a great book about Israel, which I will recommend to others. It explains almost everything about your fascinating and successful innovation ecosystem.
Thank you for your help and support.
Best regards,
Andrew