JERUSALEM (Press Release)– Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu will on 19 May 2014 at Tel Aviv University award the Prime Minister’s Prize for Initiatives and Innovation for the fourth time. The Prize was founded by the Prime Minister to award to initiatives and innovation that make a special contribution to society and are of far-reaching socio-economic influence.
Following are the winners of the 2014 Prime Minister’s Prize for Initiatives and Innovation:
* Prime Minister’s Prize for Initiatives and Innovation (non-profit): Dafna Lifshitz, CEO of Appleseeds Academy, which works to, “provide an equal opportunity to Israel’s socially disadvantaged communities through technological tools and the development of life skills.”
* Honorable Mention for Initiatives and Innovation (non-profit): Ayala Tal-El, funder of Israel AV, which works with deaf and hard-of-hearing children and seeks to integrate them in regular educational frameworks, and society as a whole, aided by unique innovative treatments and technology.
* Honorable Mention for Initiatives and Innovation (commercial): Zeev Birger, founder and CTO of Top-It-Up, Ltd., which has developed floating modular covers for reservoirs in order to minimize evaporation and improve water quality.
* Honorable Mention for Initiatives and Innovation (commercial): Amihai Miron, co-founder and CEO of User1st, which provides, “a cloud-based online solution for web accessibility designed to help end users with a broad spectrum of impairments with accessible versions of websites.”
* Honorable Mention for Initiatives and Innovation (commercial): Ziv Dubinsky, founder of Metabolic Robots, Ltd., which has developed an automated poultry feeding system that, “manages the amount of feed given at any moment,” and significantly increases profitability thereby.
The Prize was founded by the Prime Minister to award to initiatives and innovation that make a special contribution to society and are of far-reaching socio-economic influence. The Prize is designed to encourage innovative thinking, imagination and creativity among various population groups and effect significant changes in society, the environment, science, technology, etc.
The Prizes, worth NIS 200,000, are awarded in two fields: Initiatives for profit and initiatives not for profit. Each winner will receive NIS 80,000; those receiving an honorable mention will receive NIS 30,000 each.
The members of the Prize selection committee are:
National Economic Council head Prof. Eugene Kandel (Chairman)
Tammy Hauspeter, Adviser to the Prime Minister and initiator of Prime Minister’s Prize for Initiatives and Innovation
Intel Israel General Manager and Intel Technology and Manufacturing group Vice President Maxine Fassberg
Ben-Gurion University Dept. of Business Administration Prof. Dafna Schwartz
Dr. Harry Yuklea from the Technion
Itamar Medical Co-Chairman of the Board Dr. Giora Yaron
“Start-Up Nation” co-author Saul Singer
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Preceding provided by Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu