Desert tech: Tech verticals where the UAE and Israel can collaborate

• The recent normalisation agreement provides both countries with the opportunity to collaborate in order to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges.  

Tel Aviv: There has been a lot written around the recent normalisation between the UAE and Israel with promises of enduring financial collaboration between both countries. 

Israel, the startup nation, is strong in areas such as cybersecurity, AI and defence but has developed over the last few years verticals that do not just rely on the knowledge of deep technology, but seek to make a sustainable impact. 

When exploring the impact, the three areas that present major global challenges include food security, water and education. This is the case in the UAE, Israel and the rest of the world. 

Foodtech 

One of the challenges that the UAE and other countries faced during the pandemic was a disruption of their supply chain, and the food insecurity that arose. 

From a logistics perspective there are risks involved in the transportation of food but that brought into question the dependence on an unreliable supply chain. As the UAE brings up to 90 per cent of its food  from the outside it is particularly susceptible to challenges such as a pandemic.

UAE-based entrepreneurs can collaborate with their Israeli counterparts around agritech in order to parlay technology to grow food locally. 

The ability to grow food and feed local populations is key in helping create stability as our natural resources dwindle and our population numbers explode. 

Omar Al Busaidy, a serial entrepreneur, states: “I think it’s extremely vital that the UAE invest in technologies to support the development of our agricultural sector, especially because if the pandemic were to last longer, there’s a big chance we would run out of stock of some of the food that we import. Plus, we have the means to acquire these technologies from anywhere and as rapidly as we invested in developing other sectors in the UAE.”

Examples of Israeli startups that are finding solutions to major agritech challenges include InnovoPro, a startup that creates dairy and meat alternatives made from chickpeas and Future Meat Technologies which is advancing a distributive manufacturing platform for the non-GMO production of meat directly from animal cells (without having to raise livestock). 

There’s also Sufresca, a Jerusalem-based firm that creates edible coatings for fruits and vegetables to lengthen their shelf life.

Gilad Carni, CEO and Founder of the UAE Israeli Innovation Office, believes that “the UAE faces challenges that are similar to Israel in terms of agritech. We were able to work in cooperation with an Israeli Agro Tech company in developing a solution for growing crops in severe environmental conditions in order to meet the challenge of growing food demand and increase the capability of local food supply in the United Arab Emirates.”

DesertTech 

If both regions share something in common it has been having to deal with the general lack of water, and the ecological erosion which the globe is facing and is making this resource even more precious.

According to the UN, by 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world’s population could be living under water stressed conditions.

With growing populations, the heat, and general lack of resources, water, how to find it, how to maintain it, and how to secure it will be key for any nation. Aside from investment in watertech, startups in both regions can cooperate on learning best practices to preserve water, call it DesertTech.

Examples of places where Israel can cooperate with the UAE on water are technologies such as WaterGen, which provides an abundant, renewable source of fresh and clean drinking water by extracting it directly from the air. Another example, Lishtot, Hebrew for “to drink,” is a startup that develops products able to effectively and rapidly detect contaminants in drinking water, without ever touching it. 

Edtech 

Food and water for the coming years and future generations is vital, but if they are not educated, we are going to enter a world with a lower quality of life. Edtech is a vertical Israel has developed over the past few years, and while there has been a legacy of education in the startup nation its entrepreneurs are strong in video and data, two of the drivers of edtech.

There are major changes going on in education because of Covid, and that is impacting the UAE as well. Israeli edtech startups can work with local teachers in the UAE to help effectively educate students, many of whom are going to be learning from home. 

Ari Zoldan, CEO of Quantum Media Group, LLC, a global media and marketing firm with offices in New York, Zurich and Dubai believes that “Education Technology will be one of the leading sectors that is set for incredible expansion. With the recent bridges built between the UAE and Israel, it will supercharge the sector, fueled with some incredible innovation.”

Jonathan ‘Yoni’ Frenkel has been involved in the US-Israeli tech community for many years, mentoring startups on marketing, hosting events connecting investors with startups, and publishing on the topics of tech and venture regularly. Professionally, he heads a content marketing agency, YKC Media, and works with VCs, corporates, and startups in creating written content, social, and advising on marketing strategy focused on engaging a US audience. He is currently in Israel working with the Tulsa-based fund Atento Capital.He can be reached on LinkedIn here.