NYT Article - co-op votes on boycotting Israeli foods

Check out this interesting turn of events at the Park Slope Food Co-op (esp. interesting given that the area has a large Jewish population):

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/28/nyregion/park-slope-food-co-op-to-decide-on-boycott-vote.html?_r=1&src=rechp

Yale SOM meets President Shimon Peres

On our second-to-last night of the International Experience, we met with Israeli President and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shimon Peres at his house in Jerusalem, along with students from Harvard's Kennedy School and NYU Stern School of Business. Prompted by a question from Yale's own C.J. Lemky, President Peres spoke to the group about the role of business in the peace process.

Also discussed was the suitability of sanctions on Iran in response to their nuclear program. In contrast to the message the American Congress and media had just received from Prime Minister Netanyahu, President Peres stressed the importance of exhausting all diplomatic possibilities before turning to military options.

Creating a community of innovation - Rotem

The visit to Rotem was a unique opportunity to look at how government can work with private sector to foster innovation. It is a tricky job because incentives have to be pitched perfectly. Too much financial aid and people with non-viable businesses will try to be a part of this community and waste general resources. Too little aid, and you lose the entrepreneurs with the good ideas.

In particular, Rotem was focused on hi-tech renewable energy technologies. Unlike internet and software innovations, these require extremely long incu

bation periods and capital investment. In many cases, beta testing can go on for several years. That is a huge commitment and one that is difficult for individual entrepreneurs to take on - unless someone like Rotem comes along to help.

A theme that kept appearing in this trip was the fact that Israel is committed to energy independence (or as much of it as they can have). And this was clearly seen through organizations like Rotem which are government owned - but run like private sector companies. As the US government looks to boost jobs with innovation and entrepreneurship - I think there are many useful insights from case studies like Rotem on how to be helpful without interfering.

Read more: http://www.h-v.co.il/

Better Place: Visit Summary

This visit stood out among our other stops in Israel in part because Better Place is extremely focused on selling its concept. So, visiting the Better Place showroom outside of Tel Aviv entailed a curated sales pitch - we watched a beautifully animated video that explained the need for a game-changing concept.

While we were familiar with the basic premise, aspects of the model that were new to me include:

- As of right now, only Nissan-Renault produces cars for Better Place; however, any automaker could produce cars equipped with the Better Place battery and be part of the leasing program.

- When a person decides to buy a Better Place car, they purchase the car, but they lease the battery – this allows them to pay a lower price (about $36K) since the battery is expensive.

- Charging stations are placed throughout metropolitan areas where people would normally park their cars for a couple of hours (for example, at work, at the grocery store, and at the movies).

- Each person gets a Better Place charging station installed at their home. This station is hooked up to their electricity source as a separate outlet – they buy a subscription that pays for the electricity they use to charge their car alone. When people use more/less, fees go up/down.

- When people go on long drives, they can visit Better Places’ battery switching stations. They can figure out where these stations are through calling Better Place customer service – just a quick call away through the wireless phone in the car – the level of tech support was unexpected.

We were able to test drive the cars which was really great. Since I have owned a Prius, I wasn’t too surprised by how quiet the car was – but, I was impressed by how smooth the acceleration and overall driving experience was. The salespeople there mentioned that they’ve sold about 1,000 cars in Israel so far – and a few potential buyers were in the showroom during our visit. I got the sense that the concept was happening in Israel, although maybe for only a small slice of the market, given the extent of the mindset shift that was required and the cars are still being sold at a relatively high price. Also, when we asked one of the VC firms about Better Place, they alluded to it being a nice idea but not a real solution.

Solar Field Summary

We visited the solar field in the late afternoon after seeing the power project that relied on using the sun's rays to heat oil and generate power. Although we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the compound, the attached pics were taken from the outside. The main part of the solar field was a large turbine that sat high above the earth in a structure that sort of looked like a flower. The field was surrounded by solar panels, some of which had been dismantled due to a recent storm. The wattage generated by the field was much lower than the field we had just come from - roughly 500 KW - and the purpose of the field was to generate power for a nearby community that could not afford to have power directly fed from the grid.

Unique first responder model

This article describes a unique model in Israel which gets first aid to accidents faster than an ambulance alone can.  It uses a network of qualified volunteers with just an app on their smart phone who can substantially cut wait times for medical attention.  What would Swersey say?
http://www.economist.com/node/21543488

Israeli President Peres Visits Bay Area

KCBS---"Israeli President and former Prime Minister Shimon Peres is making an unprecedented visit to the Bay Area this week. Peres is expected to meet with executives of Google and Facebook this week. He will also be addressing the public at San Francisco’s Temple Emanu-El, where he will be joined by California Governor Jerry Brown. "

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/03/04/1062470/-President-Obama-President-Peres-at-AIPAC-U-S-and-Israel-share-common-visions-in-Mid-East-

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2012/03/04/israeli-president-paying-special-visit-to-bay-area-this-week/

http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=260500