IfG.CC - The Institute for eGovernment

Israel is one of the world's leading nations in the field of online government services, a UN report said. Israel ranked 16 in a recent United Nations survey of e-Government services and "available government" features.

In the month since July 9, when the state launched its biometric identification program in a handful of Israeli cities, 10,000 biometric passports and identity cards have been issued. The Population, Immigration and Border Authority says 40 percent of the people who applied for identity cards at participating branches requested the “smart” versions, which require providing fingerprints and photos, while 60 percent asked for the regular IDs.

Israel has launched a program to develop advanced communications applications in order to expand and improve the country's 5G infrastructure, Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) said Wednesday.

The program includes five pilot projects scheduled to be carried out by five chosen companies.

The first project includes the deployment of private 5G networks at Israel Chemicals' (ICL) Dead Sea Works potash plant and Mekorot national water company to augment coverage by private organizations.

Start-Up Nation may be punching above its weight in churning out entrepreneurs, but Israel is stagnating when it comes to its overall ability to adapt to disruptive technological change.

Israel has slipped to 20th place from 11th worldwide out of 82 countries ranked, according to a technological readiness report published this week by The Economist Intelligence Unit, the research and analysis division of British media company The Economist Group, the publisher of the weekly magazine The Economist.

Whatever you opinion, the program began in Israel on Monday morning, Rosh Chodesh Menachem Av 5773. Despite many objections, biometric ID cards (teudat zehut) are being offered in Ashdod and Rishon L’Tzion, chosen as the test cities for the project. The project will expand to other cities in the future. During the two-year test program, citizens may opt for the new biometric option or remain with the standard identification cards used today. The biometric cards will be issued free of charge.

Facial recognition cameras powered by Oosto software are being used to increase the safety of the Gindi TLV complex in Tel Aviv, Israel, just as survey results show Vsblty’s technology is helping smart city residents in Mexico feel safe, and a research report forecasts rapid growth in the smart cities market to over $870 million within five years.

The residential area in Tel Aviv includes four accommodation towers, restaurants, cafes, a country club and a mall, all of which use Oosto’s face biometrics to enable touchless and secure access for tenants.

The pilot is set to take place from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Interior Ministry building in Rishon Lezion, where citizens coming to renew or receive a new identification card will have the option of signing up for a new biometric version or the traditional blue identification card.

The biometric identification database could be dangerous and cause a loss of privacy, MKs complained in a Knesset Science and Technology Committee meeting Monday.

The committee discussed how the trial period for the biometric database is progressing and whether the government is able to properly secure it.

Faced with mass urbanization, "smart cities" will increasingly harness technology and data to ensure efficient management of urban resources and assets for their citizens.

More than two-thirds (68%) of the world’s population is expected to live in urban areas by 2050, according to the United Nations. Combined with global population growth, another 2.5 billion people are forecast to make the world’s cities their home.

The Finance Ministry’s E-Government online portal has developed a mobile monitoring system that will enable the public to track election results on Tuesday from the moment the polls close until tallies are final, the ministry announced on Monday.

The two-year smart ID card pilot project will get underway within six months. Hundreds of thousands of smart IDs, which will make it possible to receive government services from home, will be issued. The condition for receiving a smart ID card is to provide a finger print and facial photo that will be store in the biometric database that the government is trying to set up.

An Israeli company is tapping into the Apple HealthKit platform to create an emergency app for people with chronic conditions.

Targeted primarily at diabetics, the Alert app pulls real-time blood glucose data from HealthKit and issues a notification when the user's blood glucose level falls above or below predefined limits. The app also sends a notice to as many as three designated care team members – such as family members, friends, school officials or healthcare providers – and initiates a conference call with them within minutes.

Alert is the second app developed by HelpAround, launched in 2013 by Israeli Army R&D veterans Yishai Knobel (who'd developed the iBGStar diabetes management app now licensed by Sanofi and later developed diabetes mHealth technology for AgaMatrix) and Shlomi Aflalo. It follows on the heels of the Diabetes Helpers app, which enables the user to locate people in the immediate area who could offer assistance during a diabetic episode.

Hundreds of Israeli real estate startups have raised $3.5 billion. Sensors embedded in concrete, walls that monitor temperature, windows showing ads, hands-free cranes? All in a day's work.

Let's take a little trip into the future. The PropTech trend is gaining strength globally and in Israel. PropTech is an umbrella term for innovative technologies in the real estate field: planning and building, construction materials, project management tools, property maintenance, marketing and sales, and more. It includes any technology that serves real estate companies, their suppliers, or the end clients.

Over ten thousand Israelis have signed up for a pilot project that provides them with a “smart” Israeli identity card that includes biometric information. The project is now operating in over a dozen cities, and is currently voluntary, although it is likely to become mandatory in the future.

The Knesset State Control Committee was set to deliberate on State Comptroller Yosef Shapira's report on the management of information security and the sustainability of Internet and computing infrastructure in government offices, according to a Knesset statement issued Sunday.

The city of Tel Aviv has a sterling reputation as a smart city, using its influence as one of the world’s ‘techiest cities’ to drive digital initiatives that serve as a blueprint for other municipalities. It is also renowned as the epicenter of Israel’s startup ecosystem, tapping into the entrepreneurial spirit of its residents for urban development.

In 2014, the city was crowned the “World’s Smartest City,” besting 250 competing locations including London, New York, and Amsterdam at the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. It remains a badge of honor and the city’s efforts for smart transformation have increased tenfold since then, striving for digital revolution.

The State government is planning to develop Mumbai, Nagpur, Amravati, Aurangabad and Nashik into smart cities with the help of Israel, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said.

Fadnavis is on three day tour to Israel. He discussed the co-operation with Ron Huldai, mayor of Tel Aviv. The discussion was based on turning the cities into ‘smart cities’ using the technology, social media, e-governance and people’s participation. Tel Aviv was adjudged as the ‘World’s Smartest City’ at the Smart City Expo World Congress held in 2014.

Smart cities in Maharashtra could very well end up looking as “smart” as Tel Aviv, the capital of Israel.

In a key stride in collaboration between the State and Israel, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai on Monday agreed to cooperate in building smart cities.

After the discussions held on Smart City partnership, the two parties – the Maharashtra government and the Municipality of Tel Aviv -- agreed to discuss common challenges faced by modern cities and possible solutions. They would also explore the possibility of using Indian IT capabilities to increase efficiency of smart urban solutions.