Gov’t institutions will reward organization that will establish infrastructure in order to promote R&D in digital health

NIS 55 million (approx. $18 million) will be awarded to Israeli health organizations, for the establishment of infrastructure to promote research and development in the field of digital health.

This is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Economy and Industry, and Israel Innovation Authority. The selected health organizations will receive support of up to NIS 8 million each, for programs that will establish and/or expand the infrastructure in health organizations designed to promote research and development in the field of digital health.

The new support program is intended to promote innovative health services in the Israeli health system and to significantly expand the scope of collaborations based on health data and information that could be used for research and development purposes.

Thus, for example, the program enables investments such as the establishment of advanced virtual research environments that address the needs of the research, while maintaining a high standard of data security and privacy; data optimization and standardization; and infrastructure for the collection and creation of new data, which is currently not part of the clinical portfolio; development of NLP tools, and more.

A main emphasis in this program is also on the standard of service that will be provided to researchers as part of the collaborations. The health organizations that will receive the grant will be required to create rapid engagement channels, and can therefore employ dedicated staff that will help promote collaboration throughout the research and development phases.

“Israeli health organizations have recently demonstrated impressive capabilities to embrace and implement innovation at a fast pace and adapt to a new world. We want to further strengthen and nurture this capability. Israel can definitely lead in the implementation of innovation in the health system. However, this requires investment in research infrastructure and dedicated manpower” said Health Minister, Nitzan Horowitz.

Dror Bin, CEO, Israel Innovation Authority, said that "The new program offers great flexibility for organizations to build a focused business plan that leverages their relative advantages, both to promote their goals and to create a competitive advantage for the Israeli high-tech industry in the healthcare sector."

Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Orit Farkash Hacohen, also commented: "We have all seen the importance of the medical data infrastructure during the Coronavirus pandemic. Promoting medical data infrastructure in Israel will progress science and technology towards the challenges of the future and promote life-saving customized medicine. I welcome this important step taken by the Israel Innovation Authority and its partners.”

The Covid-19 pandemic is not the only challenge that the Israeli health system has had to deal with recently. In October, the Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in the city of Hadera had suffered a ransomware attack, which crippled the hospital’s computer systems for weeks. In the days following the initial attack, hackers tried breaching the systems of at least 10 other medical facilities across the country.