• Driver navigation app Waze is founded by Israeli programmers Ehud Shabtai, Uri Levine and Amir Shinar using real-time updates and road conditions to reduce commute time and gasoline consumption. Google bought the company in 2013 for $1.03 billion, and today the app has 100 million monthly active users. Waze has been used in all sorts of situations, even in the wake of hurricanes to help residents fuel up.
• Amir Peleg launches Takadu, a software platform that marries big data and the cloud to monitor water networks. His system gives cities, municipalities, and countries the capability to check their water infrastructure and detect leaks and burst pipes, saving millions of gallons of water.
• Hebrew University Prof. Oded Shoseyov invents a system for turning animal or human waste into odorless powder without water or electricity.
• BriefCam launches its video synopsis and artificial intelligence platform. The award-winning technology is now used globally, including at the Statue of Liberty, and was pivotal in the investigation of the Oslo and Boston Marathon bombings.
• Leading wine critic Robert Parker declares 14 Israeli wines to be world- class vintages in his first review of the country’s industry.
• HBO launches “In Treatment” based on the Israeli program “BeTipul.” Since then, dozens of Israeli shows have been picked up by international TV producers.
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