CTech’s Weekly Israeli Tech News Roundup
Amazon’s plans to open local distribution center, Uber’s retreated after facing legal pressure, and Teva is going back to its roots
Alibaba to Buy Israel-based QR Startup Visualead. The deal is worth tens of millions of dollars, said a person familiar with the matter who spoke on conditions of anonymity. Read more.
Uber retreats in Israel. Uber agreed on Monday to cease peer-to-peer ridesharing in Israel as part of a settlement in a court hearing in Tel Aviv. The company is still facing criminal charges of operating without a license filed by the Israeli transportation ministry. Read more.
New CEO steers Teva back to generics. Agile, lean and profitable is the vision Teva's new CEO Kåre Schultz described Monday when Teva unveiled its promised reconstruction plan, which will see it pivoting back to a generic focus. The plan will see thousands of employees cut in the U.S. and Israel, and some of the company’s leading executives are going the same way. Read more.
Israeli parliamentarian criticizes Israel's arms export policy. Tamar Zandberg, a member of the Israeli parliament, referred in a Facebook post to a July incident in which Israel-based UAV manufacturer Aeronautics had allegedly carried out a live demonstration of one of its suicide drones on an Armenian army post, at the request of its client, the Azerbaijani army. Read more.
Naval Iron Dome system declared operational. After months of testing, the Iron Dome system will now be used to protect marine targets, such as Israel’s natural gas rigs in the Mediterranean. Read more.
Israeli military to set up big data unit. Already using big data technology for operational purposes, the military is now examining ways to expand its use. Read more.
Turkey steps up crackdown on web freedom. Since the July 2016 coup attempt the Turkish regime has tried to systematically suppress all acts of dissent in the country. Now, a new Turkish search engine could help monitor its citizens online writes Tal Pavel, an expert on internet and cybersecurity in the Middle East. Read more.
"Our brand is extremely strong in Japan but hasn’t been as strong in other countries." Rakuten’s CEO Hiroshi Mikitani wants to make his company a global household name, and he’s drafting FC Barcelona and the Golden State Warriors to do it. Read more.
