By SHARON WROBELbird foundation 248.88(photo credit: www.birdf.com)
The Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation for cooperation between Israeli and American companies has approved up to $4.2 million in funding for six new advanced technology projects.
"The BIRD Foundation is an example of successful cooperation between Israel and the US. We are working to try and expand financing of the fund," said Eli Opper, chief scientist at the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry.
The $4.2m., approved over the weekend, will be allocated to six cooperative projects with a total budget of $18m. The allocation brings the total number of projects funded this year to 13, at a total investment of $8.7m.
Among the advanced technology projects is the development of an endoscepic capsule and fast communication networks. The US partner companies include McGraw-Hill, Infocus and eGtran.
At the end of last month, the US Department of Energy (DOE) and Israel announced funding of $3.3m. for cooperative clean energy projects marking a milestone in US-Israel cooperation on clean energy technology.
With financial support of the DOE and the Israel National Infrastructures Ministry, the bilateral BIRD Foundation Energy Executive Committee has competitively selected four cooperative clean energy projects in the United States and Israel, leveraging private sector cost-share for a total project value of $11.6m.
The BIRD Foundation provides support of up to 50% of a project's budget, beginning with research and development and ending with the initial stages of sales and marketing.
During its 32 years, the BIRD Foundation, which provides assistance in locating strategic partners from both countries for developing joint products, has invested in more than 800 projects, which have yielded direct and indirect revenues of about $8 billion.
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