By ARIEL SHAPIRAEMPLOYEES WORK on a production line inside a Saic GM Wuling factory in Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China last month. The IMF said China’s outlook was largely unchanged, with a slight improvement to 6.6 percent seen in 2016 but still slowing to 6.2% in 2017. ((photo credit: REUTERS)Windward Windward was founded in 2010 by Matan Peled and Ami Daniel, former IDF naval officers, who noticed that the movement of ships across seas and oceans worldwide influenced all industries and that there was a complete lack of information about ships’ true identities. It turns out that intelligence agencies, governments and businesses in the trade and energy sectors have only very partial, outdated or even misleading information upon which they base their business decisions.Windward, one of the few data-science companies in Israel, has developed a technology that identifies and responds to threats at sea.It takes all the information it gathers about maritime movement – hundreds of millions of data points each day – and then analyzes and organizes them. The technology then sends clients alerts in real time about relevant items, warns of ships engaging in suspicious activity and even identifies trends in international trade.Windward offers its intelligence solution to security agencies, navies and coast guards around the globe and helps them identify threats at sea so that they can make decisions well before a suspicious ship reaches their shores. Windward also works with fishing authorities and organizations fighting to stop illegal fishing.“We are now bringing unique insights to the world of finance,” Daniel said. “Hedge funds, commodity traders and banks are interested in the world’s global commodity flows.”Windward can provide accurate data and analytics on the world’s global commodity flows, for example, Iran’s oil supply, which will help traders and financial institutions make more-informed decisions.Windward currently has 65 employees and plans to grow to 90 by the end of the year.Customers receive updates through SaaS or API.Healthwatch
An Israeli startup called Healthwatch is producing shirts that can save lives. These T-shirts are machine washable, can measure skin temperature and respiratory rates and send notifications in real time if the wearer has fallen or become inactive. This technology is being used in hospitals, cardiac rehab centers, nursing homes and at home.The shirts were created by Healthwatch, which was founded in 2010 in Ra’anana. They are light and comfortable to wear, and the information collected from them is transferred by Bluetooth to a smartphone. The wearable-technology industry has grown tremendously in recent years.Ra’anana, Lithuania tech cooperationA new partnership between a Ra’anana startup, the local technology community and their Lithuanian counterparts in Vilnius was finally brought to fruition. The initiative was launched by Len Judes, the chairman of the Israel Lithuania Technology Hub (ILTH ), which is part of the Israel Lithuania Chamber of Commerce and is endorsed by Ra’anana Mayor Ze’ev Bielski.The formal cooperation came to life last Wednesday at the Ra’anana June Tech Conference, which hosted a Lithuanian business and technology panel session.If you run a young startup, have developed an interesting app or have a question, please feel free to contact info@social-wisdom.com.Translated by Hannah Hochner.