Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) (TASE: ARSP.B1) has launched its innovation center in collaboration with the Starburst Accelerator, which specializes in aerospace. The center will support the implementation of IAI’s strategy, which focuses on business performance, growth and profitability. IAI’s Innovation Center will act as an accelerator, speeding up the development of advanced technological ventures. The accelerator will employ open innovation methodologies to encourage technological diversity and in-house entrepreneurship while collaborating with startup companies. In its first year, the center will focus on pre-seed development programs in collaboration with startups and large enterprises.
Scheduled to start operations in January 2020, the Innovation Center will offer several developing cycles during 2020. Before opening the Center, IAI has invited its employees to submit innovative, out of the box proposals, which it has shortlisted to identify several leading teams out of dozens of suggestions. The teams chosen for the first class of the accelerator will develop AI, innovative radar, robotics and autonomous driving technologies with the Starburst network and with content experts from IAI.
IAI CEO and president Nimrod Sheffer said, "The opening of the Innovation Center is another step in our strategy to encourage individual and business excellence that results in entrepreneurship. Since its foundation, IAI has been the growth bed of breakthrough developments such as the "Arrow" anti-ballistic missile, UAV systems, the Beresheet lunar lander, intelligence, radar, and cyber systems, and more. These developments testify for the boldness, creativity and unconventional thinking of our employees for decades. Every year, IAI invests hundreds of millions of shekels in in-house R&D geared towards innovative elite technology and engineering creativity."
IAI Corporate CTO and EVP Strategy and R&D Dr. Amira Sharon, said, "Accelerated development of advanced technologies in our fast-paced age is critical for international corporations. The Innovation Center adds to a range of existing and new processes undertaken at IAI to promote innovation driven culture among our thousands of engineers and developers. With the Innovation Center, we are preparing the soil for germinating the next big thing that would disrupt the current technologies and provide IAI with advanced building blocks for its technological and business strength and resilience."
Starburst CEO Francois Chopard said," Starburst is honored to contribute to the success of IAI international innovation center. In a country like Israel called the startup nation, it makes total sense to promote internal entrepreneurship and to leverage it to find the next aerospace and defense disruption. Starburst will provide its international network to make this IAI initiative a success."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 24, 2019
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