Skip to content

Where different views on Israel and Judaism are welcome.

  • Home
  • Subscribe / donate
  • Events calendar
  • News
    • Local
    • National
    • Israel
    • World
    • עניין בחדשות
      A roundup of news in Canada and further afield, in Hebrew.
  • Opinion
    • From the JI
    • Op-Ed
  • Arts & Culture
    • Performing Arts
    • Music
    • Books
    • Visual Arts
    • TV & Film
  • Life
    • Celebrating the Holidays
    • Travel
    • The Daily Snooze
      Cartoons by Jacob Samuel
    • Mystery Photo
      Help the JI and JMABC fill in the gaps in our archives.
  • Community Links
    • Organizations, Etc.
    • Other News Sources & Blogs
    • Business Directory
  • FAQ
  • JI Chai Celebration
  • [email protected]! video

Search

Archives

"The Basketball Game" is a graphic novel adaptation of the award-winning National Film Board of Canada animated short of the same name – intended for audiences aged 12 years and up. It's a poignant tale of the power of community as a means to rise above hatred and bigotry. In the end, as is recognized by the kids playing the basketball game, we're all in this together.

Recent Posts

  • תוכנית הנשיא הרצוג
  • Who decides what culture is?
  • Time of change at the Peretz
  • Gallup poll concerning
  • What survey box to check?
  • The gift of sobriety
  • Systemic change possible?
  • Survivor breaks his silence
  • Burying sacred books
  • On being an Upstander
  • Community milestones … Louis Brier Jewish Aged Foundation, Chabad Richmond
  • Giving for the future
  • New season of standup
  • Thinker on hate at 100
  • Beauty amid turbulent times
  • Jewish life in colonial Sumatra
  • About this year’s Passover cover art
  • The modern seder plate
  • Customs from around world
  • Leftovers made yummy
  • A Passover chuckle …
  • המשבר החמור בישראל
  • Not your parents’ Netanyahu
  • Finding community in art
  • Standing by our family
  • Local heads new office
  • Hillel BC marks its 75th
  • Give to increase housing
  • Alegría a gratifying movie
  • Depictions of turbulent times
  • Moscovitch play about life in Canada pre-legalized birth control
  • Helping people stay at home
  • B’nai mitzvah tutoring
  • Avoid being scammed
  • Canadians Jews doing well
  • Join rally to support Israeli democracy

Recent Tweets

Tweets by @JewishIndie

Tag: VIT

From mundane to medical

From mundane to medical

The Vancouver Israeli Technology Club team on Oct. 7 with event speakers, left to right: Ronen Tanne (VIT), Prof. Ran Goldman, Ido Sarig, Eran Elizur (VIT), Consul General D.J. Schneeweiss, Yaron Bazaz (VIT) and Rod Zehavi. (photo by Rinat Lanciano)

At the University of British Columbia Robson Square Theatre on Oct. 7, the Vancouver Israeli Technology Club (VIT) held their sixth event.

VIT was started in December 2013 by local entrepreneurs Ronen Tanne, Yaron Bazaz and Eran Elizur, who all have moved from Israel to Vancouver. Tanne is now mostly interested in cybersecurity and is co-founder of a startup company in Israel that is developing a security platform focused on the Internet of Things (IoT). Bazaz has started several companies related to social media, his most recent startup being Downtown, a mobile app that has been named the “Waze for Pedestrian Traffic.” Elizur has gained a wealth of experience in commercializing technology for large organizations, such as Creo, as well as starting his own company, KaleidoFlex, which was sold to an Asian display manufacturer a few years ago.

VIT’s mission is to create an ecosystem for Israeli and Jewish technology entrepreneurs, professionals and investors in British Columbia to meet, exchange ideas and collaborate with the general tech and investment communities in the region. Now numbering more than 450 registered members, the nonprofit society is completely funded by sponsorships, which cover the cost of running events.

The recent event attracted more than 200 people. It was sponsored by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, McKesson Corp., Second City Real Estate, Navigate Surgical and Kodak.

After networking and refreshments, VIT welcomed D.J. Schneeweiss, consul general of Israel in Toronto and Western Canada, as the opening speaker. Schneeweiss spoke about the importance for Israel to maintain its relationship with the “Israeli diaspora” and commended VIT on its work and growth.

photo - Consul General D.J. Schneeweiss gives the opening address at the Oct. 7 VIT event
Consul General D.J. Schneeweiss gives the opening address at the Oct. 7 VIT event. (photo by Rinat Lanciano)

The keynote speaker was Ido Sarig, general manager of the IoT division in Wind River, an Intel subsidiary. Sarig, who was invited from Silicon Valley to present at the event, spoke about the IoT revolution and how it will transform people’s lives – when everyday appliances such as cars, home appliances and other objects (“things”) will be connected to the worldwide web. It is predicted that, over the next few years, the IoT revolution will connect more than 50 billion devices to the internet, compared to around 10 billion today (mostly mobile devices and smartphones).

Sarig spoke about the possibility of connected cars. By communicating with other cars and with their surroundings, cars will be able to drive, navigate and find parking autonomously without a driver. This could reduce congestion on roads and save gas. Furthermore, since connected cars comply with traffic rules better than human drivers and never drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs, this would also make them safer. Several big players, such as Intel, Google, Microsoft and IBM, are already establishing dominance in this field, but Sarig said there are also opportunities for startups and new players to make an impact in this emerging market. He pointed out that, as more “things” become connected, more security concerns will arise, as well as more opportunity for developing predictive analytics and remote diagnostics.

Following Sarig’s talk, two local entrepreneurs provided overviews of their companies.

Rod Zehavi, chief executive officer of RDV Systems, spoke about his company’s virtualization software, which caters to professionals in the architecture, engineering and construction sectors. It enables them to bring their projects to life by creating video clips of what their final project would look like using professional design files. Zehavi called this a “video game for professionals” since one can navigate in the virtual project and get multiple views of the end result. This could significantly reduce development times and facilitate decision-making. The RDV software has a mobile version, which allowed Zehavi to take event attendees on a virtual tour of a new construction project in Modiin, Israel, using their smartphones.

Finally, Prof. Ran Goldman of UBC and B.C. Children’s Hospital spoke about finding and using medical information online. Goldman pointed out that our habit of searching the internet for medical information to self-diagnose has led to a new disease: cyberchondriasis. This is the unfounded escalation of concerns about common symptoms based on reviews of online health searches. Goldman gave examples from his experience in the hospital’s emergency room. One story he shared was about a mother whose child had a skin rash, which she thought was an abscess. A friend directed her to a website that recommended a home treatment using heat, and she ended up burning her child by applying a glass full of boiling water to his rash before taking him to the ER. Goldman and his team have developed Med School for Parents, which is an online tool that helps parents of young children find reliable medical information.

After the speakers, program attendees had more opportunity for refreshments and networking. Tanne, Bazaz and Elizur have already begun working on the next event, as well as other plans for VIT’s future.

Format ImagePosted on November 6, 2015November 4, 2015Author VIT ClubCategories LocalTags D.J. Schneeweiss, Eran Elizur, Ido Sarig, IoT, Ran Goldman, Rod Zehavi, Ronen Tanne, Vancouver Israeli Technology, VIT, Yaron Bazaz
Startup conversations

Startup conversations

Vancouver Israeli Tech Club Fall Meetup keynote speaker Daniel Friedmann of communications company MDA, left, with presenters Yaron Bazaz, co-founder of the app Downtown and a VIT organizer, centre, and Meir Deutsch of IKOMED. (photo by Baila Lazarus)

If you’ve ever tried to start a business, you’ll know how crucial it is to have the proper support around you. This includes finding the right management and staff, marketing and growth strategists and, not least, connections with investors. Add to that the challenge of being an immigrant, and the hurdles seem impassable.

It was out of this need to support startups that Yaron Bazaz, Eran Elizur and Ronen Tanne launched the Vancouver Israeli Tech Club and its affiliate Meetup group one year ago. Bazaz had seen in California the models of business “ecosystems” that support the tech community.

“They provided a stage for local entrepreneurs to present their companies and expose themselves to potential investors, employees, media, etc.,” said Bazaz. “We didn’t have this in Vancouver. This type of ecosystem is 80 percent of the success. When you start a company, what you need is the first co-founder, the first investor, employees that are not necessarily looking for the hefty salary but have the entrepreneurial spirit to see your vision and are willing to participate.”

Within the Vancouver Jewish community, interest in VIT has garnered the group almost 350 members, as well as sponsorship from the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, and the tech hub Discovery Parks.

So far, VIT has held four networking events. At its most recent, which took place in November, Bazaz presented his app – in Beta testing – called Downtown. It allows crowd-sourced data to let users know where the highest concentration of hip, good-looking young adults can be found in the downtown club scene at any given time.

Meir Deutsch, chief executive officer of IKOMED, also presented. His medical device company aims to reduce “the exposure to ionizing radiation during minimally invasive medical procedures.”

Events also include keynote speakers who are local businessmen connected to the Israeli community. At the November event, Daniel Friedmann, president and CEO of global communications company MDA, presented on MDA’s work in satellite technology and spoke about Israel’s contributions to unmanned vehicles, especially in how information-gathering has changed.

“During the Cold War, everyone knew where to look [for enemies],” he told the audience of about 200. “Today, we don’t know where the bad guys are. We don’t know where to look.”

There are also too many factors to look at, he said, and it’s impossible for any one organization to have the human-power to keep tabs. So reconnaissance crafts, such as satellites and drones, as well as the software, have to be more technically adept at recording even subtle changes on the ground.

“If the software shows us where some cars have been moved, we can detect bombs that were placed on the road overnight,” explained Friedmann.

Entrepreneur Shahar Ben Halevi has attended all of VIT’s events.

“You learn about other entrepreneurs’ journeys and lessons they have learned on their path,” he said. “You can always learn more about life, about business, about setting goals and the right mind set to get them.”

Ben Halevi, who came to Vancouver nine years ago, is the founder of Cornfield Media, which has media projects in different stages of development.

“One is an online streaming platform for children’s stories on multilingual channels,” he said. “The service allows parents and children to read the same stories in different languages.” Ben Halevi has a book on Amazon and had a short in this year’s Vancouver Jewish Film Festival.

He said he’s taken away lessons from VIT on team building, courage, being visionary and how to turn your vision into reality. “How to be happy with what you achieved and not depressed about the things that you haven’t done yet.”

Baila Lazarus is a freelance writer, painter and photographer. Her work can be seen at orchiddesigns.net.

Format ImagePosted on November 28, 2014November 27, 2014Author Baila LazarusCategories LocalTags Cornfield Media, Daniel Friedmann, Eran Elizur, IKOMED, MDA, Meir Deutsch, Ronen Tanne, Shahar Ben Halevi, Vancouver Israeli Tech Club, VIT, Yaron Bazaz
Proudly powered by WordPress