The  Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD)  Foundation was established more than 40 years ago by the two  governments, as a catalyst to promote U.S.-Israel cooperation in  innovation between U.S. and Israeli companies, providing non-dilutive funding. The Foundation was critical in the growth of the Israeli  hi-tech sector. Today, BIRD supports relatively high risk joint projects  in diverse sectors, such as agrotech, medical devices, energy,  transportation, water, homeland security, etc., and also emerging  sectors, such as construction tech.

In addition to presenting what BIRD does and how it works, a discussion will be held on the importance of government support to R&D and innovation, and on the value of  cross-border collaboration.