Tag Archives: INNI

Iran and South Korea sign memorandum of understanding (MOU) in July 2016

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Iran and South Korea are becoming quite cozy with each other. A May 10, 2016 news item on FARS news agency notes that Iran is exporting nano products to South Korea,

Iranian Vice-President for Science and Technology Sorena Sattari announced that the country has exported its first nano product to South Korea.

The Iranian first vice-president reiterated that the first nano product produced by Iran has been exported to South Korea.

“This move has changed our world ranking in the nano sector from seven to the sixth position,” Sattari said on Monday [May 9, 2016].

On the same day as the export announcement, Iran Daily ran a (May 10, 2016) news item about Iran easing regulations on Korean cosmetics imports,

Iran and South Korea have signed an agreement to partially ease regulations governing Korean cosmetics exports to Iran starting from later this year, making way for the expanded sales of locally made cosmetics in the Iranian market.

Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said its Iranian counterpart has agreed to eliminate on-site inspections — which had been mandatory until now — for certified Korean cosmetics destined for sale in Iran, The Korea Herald reported.

As long as they are certified under the Good Manufacturing Practice, or GMP system, Korean cosmetics companies will no longer be subject to such inspections when seeking to export their products to Iran.

Moreover, Iran has eliminated the need for Korean cosmetics companies to present documentation that proves their products have already been approved in the US or Europe.

Under the agreement, Korean cosmetics-makers will only have to prove that they have been approved for sale in Korea. In effect, this means Iran recognizes Korean cosmetics standards as being on par with those made in the US and Europe, the ministry said.

The two countries also plan to set up a space dedicated to promoting and selling Korean cosmetics in Iran by this year. However, the exact timing and details have yet to be determined, due to unsettled issues such as funding.

The latest joint announcement, the MOU (memorandum of understanding), is in an August 11, 2016 news item for the Mehr News Agency,

During the time of the Nano exhibition in Korea, July 13 to 15, 2016, Iran’s National Nanotechnology Initiative (INNI) signed several agreements with Nano Technology Research Association of Korea (NTRA), according to a report released by National Nanotechnology Initiative of Iran.

Dr. Saeid Sarkar, the Secretary of National Nanotechnology Initiative of Iran and Dr. Hee-Gook Lee, the Chairman of Korea’s NTRA, signed the memorandum.

Developing cooperation between the developers and users of the Nano-tech products is one of the objectives of the agreement.

Also, exchange of the information of the related products and technologies, identifying the developers and the clients of the technology, and joint hosting of seminars and workshops were among the other articles of the deal signed between NTRA and INNI.

If you consider that Iran got the right to export nano-enabled products to South Korea in exchange for the change in cosmetics import regulations regarding South Korea, a question begs to be asked. Just how big a market for cosmetics is there in Iran?

Theranostics (nanomedicine) in Israel

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There’s a very intriguing nanomedicine project in Tel Aviv, Israel. Called Nanomedicines for Personalized Theranostics, the project combines diagnostics and therapeutics for a personalized medical experience. From the Oct. 19, 2012 news item on Nanowerk (Note: I have removed a link),

Tel Aviv University [TAU] has been appointed by the Israel National Nanotechnology Initiative (INNI) to lead a consortium on “Nanomedicines for Personalized Theranostics”, a combined system of diagnostics and therapeutic treatments. This consortium of 11 laboratories will be dedicated to developing nano-sized drug delivery systems for the detection and treatment of various diseases. Eight of the labs are TAU-led, with additional participation from Hebrew University Jerusalem, Bar-Ilan University and Ben Gurion University of the Negev.

The ultimate goal is to design a new class of drugs that can destroy faulty proteins in angiogenesis-dependent diseases that involve the growth of new blood vessels from existing vessels — including cancer, infectious diseases and heart diseases — and deliver these drugs safely into the body. Beyond the academic realm, the group aims to create spin-off companies based on licensed technologies they develop, creating the basis for a thriving biotechnology industry within Israel.

The news item provides some insight into the situation in Israel,

Although considered a beacon of research and development, the field of biotechnology in Israel has suffered drawbacks, both in academia and industry. Higher salaries lure the best minds abroad, and international companies have more private capital with which to sustain businesses.

“Israel has amazing intellectual resources, but we are constantly combating budget constraints. With this project, the idea is to create future technologies built on Israeli creativity that also allow us to bring in the brightest people and better funding,” says Prof. Peer [Scientific Director Prof. Dan Peer]. While many great biotechnology ideas were born in Israel, the economic situation stymied the establishment of many more successful companies within the country, he observes. “We want to maintain the advantages that we have in the life sciences while boosting this lagging industry. Our research as part of the FTA [the Focal Technology Area within the INNI] will be a starting engine.”

Prof. Peer hopes that in two years, researchers will be able to start translating their research into practical applications.

The INNI is also working to combat “brain drain” in the academic world by giving TAU and other institutions the means to attract outstanding young researchers back home to Israel, both with funding and with the prestige of the project.

Is there a country in the world that isn’t concerned about ‘brain drain’?

Canadian nanotech firms invited to Israel

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My information on this opportunity is scanty but here goes (from an Information Technology Association of Canada notice page),

Industry Canada has been approached by Nava Swersky Sofer, Co-Chairperson, NanoIsrael, seeking assistance to identify Canadian firms having an interest in nanotechnology/materials that might be interested in participating in NanoIsrael 2012, an international conference and exhibition to be held in Tel Aviv, March 26-27, 2012.

Interested firms should contact Swersky Sofer directly, at: +972-54-489-8551, nava@swersky.com.

You can get more information about NanoIsrael 2012 here. I gather the conference is hosted by the Israel Nanotechnology Initiative (INNI), from the About INNI webpage,

The INNI mission is to make nanotechnology the next wave of successful industry in Israel by creating an engine for global leadership.

A primary task for the INNI is to promote fruitful collaboration between Israeli and global nanotechnology stakeholders, particularly for projects that lead to continuing success in academia and industry.

To achieve this task, INNI activities include:

  • Establishing a national policy for resource allocation in nanotechnology, with the aim of optimizing resources for faster commercialization.
  • Formulating long-range nanotechnology programs for scientific research and technology development in academia and industry, and promote development of a world-class infrastructure in Israel to support them.
  • Leading in the creation of projects that promote agreed national priorities; allocate their budgets and review development progress.
  • Actively seeking funding resources from public and private sources in order to implement the selected projects.
  • Promoting development of innovative local nanotechnology industries which will strongly impact Israeli economic growth and benefit investors.

The contrast between the Canadian nanotechnology scene and the Israeli scene is quite striking. We don’t have a central initiative or nanotechnology project and there is no national nanotechnology policy or roadmap.

The Israeli approach is similar to what I’ve seen in the US and elsewhere and while I don’t know if it will make any difference in the end, it does mean that in the short term, identifying Canadian companies and scientists with an interest in nanotechnology can be a bit of a challenge as there is no central information hub as there is elsewhere.

Nanotechnology in Israel

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Israel’s been making news lately for its nanotechnology effots. Israeli scientists came to visit Canada at an October 2010 Carleton University event which I previewed in my Sept. 24, 2010 posting. Lynne Cohen provides follow up information in her Nov. 3, 2010 article, Canada, Israel working together on nanotechnology, in the Jewish Tribune,

Relations between Canada and Israel just keep getting tighter. Two years ago, experts from both countries met, through computer video links, to discuss potential business ventures, including developing instruments for desalinating sea water to make it potable. Last year, Israeli and Canadian philatelists met face to face to launch a friendship stamp to celebrate 60 years of great relations between their two nations.

…

Last month [Oct. 4 & 5,2010], nanotechnologists from both places got together at Carleton University in Ottawa to study matter so small that it would be lost on the head of a pin.

There’s always a bit of puffery in these things (from the article),

Miriam Ziv, Israel’s ambassador to Canada, said, “Israeli research and innovation is world renowned and the potential benefits of an exchange of knowledge between Canada and Israel will be extremely valuable. I am confident that this workshop will not only enrich the research but also strengthen the friendship between our two countries.”

According to Kim Matheson, Carleton’s vice-president (research and international), “Carleton is known for its significant cutting-edge research in the field of nanotechnology,” and collaboration between scientists from both coubtriescould lead to great initiatives and cooperative ventures.

Cohen goes on to note that there were 40 participants.

Meanwhile, Israel too  has signed a deal (my Sept. 14 2010 posting about the Canada-RUSNANO venture capital project) with RUSNANO (Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies). From the Nov. 2, 2010 news item on Nanowerk,

RUSNANO announces tender results for selection of the Partner for joint establishment of Russian-Israeli investment fund which were summarized on 29th of October 2010. On the basis of the final scores made by the tender committee the best conditions for joint establishment of Russian-Israeli investment fund were proposed by the Myrtus Capital Ltd.

These activities come on the heels of a three-year investment in the Israel National Nanotechnology Initiative (from the Nov. 2, 2010 news item on Nanowerk,

A three-year support of nanotechnology as an Israeli national project has resulted in: 52 leading scientists have immigrated to Israel, 77 million dollars have been invested in equipment, 41 million dollars have been invested in infrastructure, 106 success stories have been documented and 389 Academy–Industry Projects have been achieved.

Based on data of the Israel National Nano–Technology Initiative – INNI – which has gathered on the occasion of Nano–Technology Week: NanoIsrael 2010 Conference and Exhibition being held next week [Nov. 8 – 9, 2010] in Tel Aviv, during the last three years since Nano–Technology has been declared an Israeli national priority project …

The approach they’ve taken in Israel provides a striking contrast with the Canadian approach (outlined in my Nov. 8, 2010 posting),

During this time, 389 cooperation transactions have been established between the Israel academy and the Industry (both local and foreign), 106 “success stories” have been documented, either as new start–up companies or as authorized patents, not to mention the 422 patents that were submitted for registration.

In 2007, the Israel Nano field was defined as a project that received governmental priority, and its mission was the installation of the research and structural infrastructure in six university premises. The selected universities were those in which the research dealing with establishing the industry based on Nano–Technology was going to be performed. A plan was based on three supporting entities: governmental support (one third), university resources (one third) and contributions (one third). Six Nano centers were established in different universities (the Technion center had already been established in 2005).

I don’t believe Canada could produce these kinds of figures about cooperative transactions and “success stories”  easily since each province seems to be in charge of its own, if any, nanotechnology efforts. There is national funding, as I noted Nov. 8, 2010, but multiple federal agencies are involved and the language used to describe the projects varies by agency.

Judy Seigel-Itzkovich in her Nov. 8, 2010 article in the Jerusalem Post provides this quote about the INNI,

“This is an excellent example for the efficient use of the public money and the mutual cooperation between the government, academy, and industry, which brings back significant return on investment,” said Dan Vilenski, a member of the national NanoIsrael committee.

“I believe that we are on the way to turn Israel into a leading nanotechnology country.”

Israel’s nanotechnolog conference ended yesterday but here’s a little taste of what they had on offer (from the Nov. 9, 2010 news item on Nanowerk,

A material just one atom thick that is stronger than steel but flexes like rubber. A “mini-submarine” that can trick the immune system and deliver a payload of chemotherapy deep inside a tumour.

They sound like the fantasies of science fiction writers, but they are among the discoveries being presented at Nano Israel 2010, a nanotech conference in Tel Aviv that has attracted researchers from across the science world, united by their work with the very, very small.

The 1,500 participants at the two-day meeting which ends on Tuesday include chemists, physicists and medical researchers, all working with tiny structures around the thickness of a cell wall.

“We are all working to be able to manipulate molecules at an atomic level,” said Dan Peer, a professor at Tel Aviv University’s Cell Research and Immunology Department.

Good luck, Israel!