Ainhoa Aizpuru, deputy for Economic Promotion, Rural Environment and Territorial Balance, BIC Gipuzkoa managers, representatives of BIC Gipuzkoa, representatives of Tecnun and engineering students of this university center have visited Israel to visit several reference centers and accelerators of innovative projects related to biosciences and cybersecurity. This trip has been made in the framework of the B+INVAS training program, organized by Tecnun, School of Engineering of the University of Navarra in San Sebastian, and funded by the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa and BIC Gipuzkoa. The program, which has as goal promote the concern for innovation and entrepreneurship in the university environment, has awarded this trip to six students for the viability and social impact of the projects developed, as explained by the director Corporate Entrepreneurship of the University of Navarra, Gustavo Pego.

"It is a unique opportunity for all of us who have come on this trip to Israel to get to know such a dynamic and innovative country. We have met with very interesting people and we have been able to deepen, see and learn from several initiatives and projects that are developing in the country in subject cybersecurity and in the biosciences sector, sectors that are strategic for Gipuzkoa," says Ainhoa Aizpuru. "The Floor Cyber has been an authentic finding, a project that is working financial cybersecurity, evidencing the need to advance in this field, core topic for the economic development and the welfare of the business fabric of any territory or country".

Gustavo Pego considers that "we look to Israel because it is a country that, by necessity, has developed public and private policies that make it an international reference letter in innovation and technological development . This allows them to attract 10 times more investment capital than Spain with a population 6 times smaller". One of the examples highlighted by Pego in the field of Biosciences is Space4P. "For entrepreneurs in this country 'the sky is the limit', as is literally demonstrated in the proposal of this start up, which offers its clients biological tests in microgravity environments, i.e. tests carried out in satellites and which are telecommanded from its offices near Tel Aviv".

Innovation in cybersecurity and biosciences

The regional officials, representatives of BIC Gipuzkoa and Tecnun, as well as the engineering students, have visited several companies and reference centers, such as Trendlines Group, in the city of Misgav, where they met with Shira Zimmerman, head of Investment and Corporate Communication. Trendlines is an accelerator of development of medical and agrotech start-ups, with enormous prestige in Israel.

Delving into the more technological field and the transfer of knowledge, they have visited the Israel Institute of Technology, Technion, in the city of Haifa, with Claudia Ben-Yaakov, director of development Business in Information Technology and Engineering at Technion Technology Transfer. Technion focuses on university education, especially in engineering, research and innovation at subject, mainly related to biosciences, and more technological and engineering fields.

One of the highlights of the trip was the visit to The Floor Fintech Hub and its cybersecurity division, The Floor Cyber. In this visit, guided by Moises Cohen, co-founder, the need to advance in this field, a crucial challenge of the future of our societies, was discussed in depth. Israel is one of the largest exporters of cybersecurity in the world and The Floor Cyber develops local knowledge in this area, as well as solutions, services and intelligence in cybersecurity, focusing on talent and innovation. The Floor is a leading company working in fintech, blockchain and cybersecurity, with a clear vision for the future.

"Cybersecurity and the bioscience sector are strategic for the future of Gipuzkoa. We need to continue working in this direction in order to remain competitive in the future and capable of guaranteeing the wellbeing of society as a whole", says Aizpuru, and goes on to point out that "it is vital to learn about other cases, other projects and other ways of doing things, which is why we have come to Israel, a very interesting country known internationally as "the start-up nation".

Continuing with the biosciences and health sector, they visited OSSIO , a company that works, from innovation and research, in the field of orthopedics. They have known this company from the hand of the founder Orahn Preiss-Bloom. They also visited Space4Pharma, an innovative project that offers the possibility of research in a microgravity environment. They learned about this curious way of working from Yossi Yamin and Daniel Barok.

In addition, the members of this trip have had the opportunity to talk and share reflections with three young talents: Dan Nahum, director of development Business of MEDX Xelerator, an accelerator of emerging projects related to medical products; Tomer Shussman, a young entrepreneur, head of instruction at Talpiot, and developer of a health-related start-up; and Daniel Benarroch, of QED-it, a data encryption and blockchain start-up.