SPS selected to help Israelis navigate its one-of-a-kind Covid elections
Israel’s election, the fourth in two years, will take place on March 23
Israeli startup SPS, which develops information and navigation solutions, has been selected by the Israeli Ministry of Interior to provide its web service to help people vote in the upcoming elections. March 23 will decide the 24th Knesset and members of the public can use SPS to receive information about their polling station, as well as how to best navigate there safely.
"We are proud to have been chosen to be the platform that will help the Israeli government conduct Election Day in a technically-advanced way that will help millions of voters reach the polls safely and conveniently,” said Sagiv Levy, founder and CEO of SPS. “It is definitely heartwarming that the Ministry of the Interior has chosen to work with a young Israeli startup in these difficult times, and we are grateful to them for the trust they have placed in us and our product."
Sagiv Levy, founder and CEO of SPS. Photo: Ilan Siman Tov SPS was founded in 2018 and is largely a bootstrapped startup valued at $12 million. It offers a free web service for users to receive navigation links from businesses and organizations that supply them with publicly available data for their journeys, including journey time and recommended mode of transport. The service is used by tourist attractions, retail chains, and most recently, Israel’s Clalit Health Services to help citizens identify and navigate to Covid-19 tests and vaccination stations.
According to the Ministry of Interior, it marks the first time that the governmental body is cooperating with a startup. “In light of the Corona crisis the number of polling stations will increase significantly, and many citizens will be voting at polling stations unfamiliar to them,” explained Naomi Friedman, Director of Senior Digital Technologies and Information at the Ministry of the Interior. “The established system will enable quick and efficient location of the polling stations in order to facilitate the voting process."
Israelis are currently contemplating their vote for the 24th Knesset, with this month’s election marking the fourth in two years. The last year has seen unprecedented policies and government action regarding civil liberties, healthcare, and security - so many are hoping for a more definitive result than previous attempts to form a coherent government in the Middle East’s only functional democracy.
You can navigate to the polls by clicking on the polling page on the Ministry of the Interior website.
