Technological solutions are developing every day, world-wide. In Israel, the transportation sector provides impressive examples of innovation at work. Urban growth naturally reaches a saturation point, at which people either need to move or commute farther each day, creating higher costs and greater safety concerns. Smart mobility consists of the movement to make transportation easier, safer, more environmentally friendly, and more efficient. And Israel has taken a leadership position in developing companies and technologies that help make it possible.
Autonomous Driving
One key area of innovation in which Israeli companies are developing key technologies is autonomous driving. Human errors account for most auto accidents, driving up insurance rates and creating havoc in highly populated areas. Waze pushed navigation tech to new levels through data sharing. Otonomo is working to connect cars to the Internet of Things by increasing the data that vehicles can share among owners, automakers, and commercial service operators. These technologies represent a key component to helping automate not only drivers’ daily commutes, but commercial delivery fleets as well.
Meanwhile, Innoviz Technologies and Mobileye are improving 3D imaging and mapping around vehicles to improve their ability to sense and respond to what is around them. The more sensitive vehicles become to their environments, the greater their capability to advance beyond human perception, making this a critical development area in smart mobility.
Connecting Technologies Together
These technologies serve as part of a broader ecosystem of smart mobility developing in Israel, in what could be a $9 trillion industry by 2030. Companies like Softwheel and Aquarius are working to help cars work better and more efficiently to improve the world around the vehicle in which it drives and to help reduce the number of vehicles. Companies like Moovit connect users to public transportation. Combining these with the data capabilities and the technologies emerging from Israeli companies helps build a thriving system of innovation in the area.
Businesses succeed by developing ideas that build on each other. Smart mobility depends on creating new applications that lift the transportation sector. And Israel’s national focus on innovation and startup development serves as an ideal breeding ground for this kind of whole-sector development.
