October 2021 Update

Welcome to our 2021 October update, where we share our latest news and publications on Innovating innovating.

i8 Ventures is a boutique consultancy specializing in digital transformation leadership. For more info see i8.ventures.

Yours Sincerely,
Prof. Yesha Sivan and the team

Teva Bio-Mix 2021 — Annual Competition

The annual competition of the Bio-Mix 2021 program took place on 13-September. It was held virtually with participants from all over the world. 5 innovative projects in the fields of biotech and biomedicine were presented, all were developed by the students during the year and all have great business potential.

Prof. Nachman Ash, Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Health, and Mr. Kare Schultz, CEO at Teva, opened the final event which was judged by five leading professionals from commerce, academia, and venture capital funds.

The five presented projects were:

• Peptiburn: Smart antibacterial bandage to prevent infections in case of burn wounds.
• EpiPatch: Integrated detector application for providing early warning to anaphylactic shock in case of life-threatening allergies.
• Tabium: 3D printed tablets will be individually printed so that each will contain all the necessary biological materials for researchers.
• Cortishield: Decomposition of the stress hormone Cortisol – in order to fight stress. Cortisheild uses friendly bacteria engineered to influence cortisol production.
• CircaDose: Customized medication – a combination of artificial intelligence and accessibility to the brain and blood-brain barrier to indicate the right time to take medicines.

The winning venture in 2021 is the “EpiPatch” of Ron Kleiner from Tel Aviv University and her team. EpiPatch is an integrated detector application for early warning of anaphylactic shock in case of life-threatening allergies: a sticker attached to the skin will include sensitive subcutaneous detection based on blood markers that can indicate the development of anaphylactic shock. The sensor will be connected to an app that will alert rescue forces or an adult in the area who can assist (in the case of children) immediately when the warning signals are detected.

The purpose of the program, led by Professor Yesha Sivan, CEO of Digitrash, and Dr. Dana Bar-On, Director of Teva’s Academy Relations at the Global R&D Division, is to connect the laboratory to real life and bridge the gap between a promising scientific invention and a product or drug entering the market.

Now it is in Ron Kleiner’s hands, and in each of the participants’ who hold the IP (Intellectual property) for their projects. Are they going to take the next step and enter into the business world with their inventions? We gave them the tools and we look forward to their success.

As part of the training program for digital leaders and CIOs at financial institutions in China, Professor Yesha Sivan delivered a 4-hour workshop on the challenge of moving from a manager to a leader in the digital world.

The workshop addressed the tactical and strategic aspects of the challenge and was given as part of the CCMI (China Capital Market Institute) based in Shenzhen, China.

One can learn a lot from Netflix about the journey of building digital integrated products and services. The founder of Netflix, Reed Hastings, had a formative experience at his previous company (Pure Software – which was eventually issued and sold). When he established Netflix he was a wealthy man and mostly a thinking and learning man.

So far, Netflix has created three revolutions (1) fixed price for DVD service (thus removing Blockbuster from the market), (2) streaming services (thus removing itself from the market – self-cannibalization), and (3) in recent years, it has become a Content company.

The impressive innovation record might be a result of a variety of factors. However, one factor stands out and that is Netflix’s innovative culture. Netflix has a distinct culture of innovation (sometimes considered brutal) designed for the rapidly changing digital world. Netflix encourages team members to think independently, be creative, and take decisions on their own with one main objective – the benefit of the company. They flag with the team members’ freedom to act, to manage themselves, and to make their own choices. Netflix invests in creating this freedom feeling in the company and sets the boundaries as largely as they can. On the other side of the coin lies a demand for uncompromised dedication, high performance, and full compliance with the expected behavior described at the culture deck. They have a very strict and clear policy – whoever is not coping with the guidelines will be out.

Netflix openly publishes its culture code and states ‘this is us, this is how we think and operate’ – if you accept and are willing to live by this set of values and practices you are welcome. If you don’t – your place is not with us, don’t even apply for a job. See https://jobs.netflix.com/culture

Netflix story referencing the new course of DigitalRosh / i8 Venture which deals with product development methods, design thinking, and leading a change. The course, DLC147: “Digital products and service – The Journey”, developed in cooperation with the Technion and led by Prop. Yesha Sivan from i8 Ventures and Prof. Miriam Erez from the Technion.

If innovation is a key to success in our digital world, culture is a key to success in innovation. 15 years ago Peter Drucker said “Culture eats Strategy for breakfast” and it is still very true and, when it comes to innovation, it is even more impactful.

And now for the advertisement: if you happen to have colleagues or friends in Israel, who might benefit from delving into the development of integrated digital products, please share with them this information.
(DLC147 course. 6 sessions, 17:00-20:00 Zoom. November-December 2021). All details are here: https://digitalrosh.com/dlc147/

Jacob Eilon, Editor in Chief and Moderator at DigitalRosh Live events

Mr. Jacob Eilon, DigitalRosh Live events editor in chief and moderator, as well as a community member, is an Israeli television presenter and journalist. He was the anchor of Channel 2‘s primetime news show and later Channel 10‘s news bulletins. Since 2019, Eilon has presented the 5 pm edition of HaHadashot 13 on Reshet 13.

As of late September Jacob leads, together with Laura Cellier, a new program “Middle East now”. This is a daily evening magazine from 21:00 to 22:00.

i24 News is an international 24-hour news and current affairs television channel broadcasting from Jaffa Port, Tel Aviv, Israel. It broadcasts in French, English, Spanish, and Arabic. The channel’s owner is Patrick Drahi, and the CEO is Frank Melloul. The network’s American version began airing on 13 February 2017.

You are all invited to watch and get a new perspective of what is happening on our side of the world.

DigitalRosh Live events — The Chameleon series  

“DigitalRash Live” is a special series of programs in the ZOOM webinar format (requires personal access), on Tuesdays from 18:00 to 19:00. Each series has a specific theme and focus.
Editor-in-Chief: Jacob Ayalon.

In the program, DigitalRosh hosts executives from various companies and organizations in a format of a lecture followed by a discussion. The format allows for in-depth discussion at a professional high level. The program also includes community updates, Jacob’s digital news, and more.

The coming series is named “The Chameleon series – Managing the change.” It will bring us together with executives from leading companies that manage adjustment and change processes in accordance with the changing competitive environment.

The key speaker of the first meeting is Mr. Harry Moseley, Zoom Global CIO.
This webinar will be conducted in English (unlike the other meetings which will be held in Hebrew). You are invited to join us for this webinar on the 16th of November.

If you are willing to participate, please e-mail us to [email protected], who will set your registration,

Hope to see you with us.

From DigitalRosh Library: Live event recording: Ari Nadin, Digital Transformation Leader, Avanade (Singapore) — The Digital workplace  

50,000 users, who want to work together – what does that mean? What does it involve? Ari Nadine introduces Avanade – a subsidiary of Accenture and Microsoft that helps organizations change the way they work to fit the contemporary world of work. With the help of Microsoft’s TEAMS and in accordance with acceleration’s data analysis, they adapt applications and software to the employee, the organization, the various tools, and teams, in order to enable smooth, pleasant, and efficient work environment.