JPost -- Japanese motor company, Honda, made its formal entrance in Israel's tech market, seeking local technology for connected cars at the OurCrowd annual summit.

“Our presence at this conference is actually Honda’s first formal entrance to Israel’s technology community. Having come here from silicon valley, I can tell you that I’m very impressed with the innovative and entrepreneurial culture and spirit of the start-up nation,” said Nick Sugimoto, the Senior Program Director of Honda's Silicon Valley Lab.

Honda, he said, was searching for Israeli technology to develop smart car apps through its Honda Developer Studio, and others to participate in its accelerator program called Honda XCelerator. The eventual goal, he added, was to eventually make Honda vehicles completely collision free.

OurCrowd, an equity crowd-funding platform, presented several companies working in the connected car space. VocalZoom, for example, offers a voice recognition system that uses lasers to detect vocal vibration and separate words out from background noise. The company expects the technology to be available in cars by 2018, which will help drivers keep their eyes on the road while dealing with their car's various functions.

Read the rest here: http://www.jpost.com/Business-and-Innovation/Tech/Honda-comes-to-Israel-for-connected-car-tech-442694

3/23/2016, YNET News -- The autonomous car is coming to Israel: a steering team that includes representatives from various government ministries began on Sunday to work towards preparing the ground for the arrival of the revolutionary technology in Israel.

The Transportation Ministry said the team has been tasked with “designing a strategic plan for the move and creating a proper synergy between ministries for the purpose of properly preparing for the coming of the autonomous car.” The team is expected to meet regularly throughout the year to discuss opinions and examine various issues, including the ramifications on each ministry’s work.

The first discussion, held on Sunday, included 30 representatives from the Ministries of Transportation, Justice, Economy, Finance, and Environmental Protection, as well as the Tax Authority, Prime Minister’s Office, Electricity Authority, and the Office of the Chief Scientist. 

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4781277,00.html