(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
Following are the winners of the 2014 Prime Minister's Prize for Initiatives and Innovation:
* Prime Minister's Prize for Initiatives and Innovation (non-profit): Dafna Lifshitz, CEO of
Appleseeds Academy, which works to, "provide an equal opportunity to Israel's socially disadvantaged communities through technological tools and the development of life skills."
* Honorable Mention for Initiatives and Innovation (non-profit): Ayala Tal-El, funder of
Israel AV, which works with deaf and hard-of-hearing children and seeks to integrate them in regular educational frameworks, and society as a whole, aided by unique innovative treatments and technology.
* Honorable Mention for Initiatives and Innovation (commercial): Zeev Birger, founder and CTO of
Top-It-Up, Ltd., which has developed floating modular covers for reservoirs in order to minimize evaporation and improve water quality.
* Honorable Mention for Initiatives and Innovation (commercial): Amihai Miron, co-founder and CEO of
User1st, which provides, "a cloud-based online solution for web accessibility designed to help end users with a broad spectrum of impairments with accessible versions of websites."
* Honorable Mention for Initiatives and Innovation (commercial): Ziv Dubinsky, founder of
Metabolic Robots, Ltd., which has developed an automated poultry feeding system that, "manages the amount of feed given at any moment," and significantly increases profitability thereby.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will, on Monday, 19 May 2014, at Tel Aviv University, award the Prime Minister's Prize for Initiatives and Innovation for the fourth time.
The Prize was founded by the Prime Minister to award to initiatives and innovation that make a special contribution to society and are of far-reaching socio-economic influence. The Prize is designed to encourage innovative thinking, imagination and creativity among various population groups and effect significant changes in society, the environment, science, technology, etc.
The Prizes, worth NIS 200,000, are awarded in two fields: Initiatives for profit and initiatives not for profit. Each winner will receive NIS 80,000; those receiving an honorable mention will receive NIS 30,000 each.
The members of the Prize selection committee are: