During a review of his office's activities in the Science and Technology Committee, MK Ofir Akunis estimated that "there will be a struggle" over the budgeting. The minister stated that in the next two years the ambition is to penetrate the markets in South America and Africa in the technological - scientific export: "There are no boycotts on Israel". Chairman of the committee, MK Uri Makleb: "We feel this from requests from parallel committees around the world"
The Science and Technology Committee held a discussion today (Monday) in which the Minister of Science and Technology, MK Ofir Akunis, reported on the activities of his ministry in the various departments, and on the ministry's plans for the coming years.
The chairman of the committee, MK Uri Makleb, opened the discussion: "Continuous reporting from the Ministry of Science and Technology shows a governing sequence in the ministry and a sequence of actions by the appointed minister as a policy maker. We feel that the office has made progress in recent times also in terms of expanding its activities as well as in the matter of the budget. The activity of the office is diverse and touches all sectors, it should also be noted the international agreements in the field of research and trade, and we feel this in the form of requests from around the world of parallel committees to meet with us and learn about the technological powerhouse - Israel."
Minister of Science and Technology, MK Ofir Akunis: "Since I was appointed in September 2015, this is the 7th time I have been here. The main thing we need in the operation of the ministry is money, we had a hard fight with the budget department in the Ministry of Finance. In 2010, there was a poor budget - NIS 146 million. Little by little, thanks to my predecessors in the position, the amount gradually increased and during my tenure we broke the budgeting record, NIS 443 million for 2017 and NIS 484 million for 2018.
The minister presented the ministry's activities in the field of making science and technology accessible to all citizens of Israel - the Night of Scientists project in institutions across the country in which 62 thousand participants took part, the digital literacy project (Lahva) which operates in 30 local authorities and makes advanced options accessible to the general public, with tens of thousands of participants taking part And the intention is to expand it, experiences in science museums across the country in which 18 thousand students took part, science week in 12 municipalities at the end of the month when the late Ilan Ramon will be commemorated, Science Day in March, science camps that were run across the country and 6,500 children took part in them and the intention is to expand them and more.
The Minister also introduced the 'Science Basket Revolution' which is being launched this year as a pilot in the framework of which 30 million NIS will be dedicated to local authority activities in hundreds of settlements on various topics - robotics, cyber, exact sciences groups and more.
Later, MK Akunis also presented the excellent programs in which 750 female students from all sectors, including the ultra-Orthodox and the Arab, receive reinforcement in science studies in grades XNUMX to XNUMX.
In the second part of the review, MK Akunis presented Israel's activities with regard to international agreements and activities.
"Israel is a powerhouse in technology and innovation. In the OECD ranking, we are placed second after Switzerland, but let me share, we are in first place. Against this, a violent discourse was led by the BDS movements without success. Anyone who wants to boycott is welcome to boycott, their loss. There are no boycotts in this field, the opposite is true," the minister noted.
MK Akunis presented a series of large international agreements that were signed around the world in the past year - in the East, Europe, the USA and China, and presented that in the next two years the intention is to sign additional agreements with Austria, Denmark and the Netherlands, Canada and the European Union. The minister also stated that the intention is to break into the markets in South America, through Brazil and Argentina, and Africa - through Ethiopia.
In the field of satellites and research missions in space, Aconis noted that between now and the middle of 2018, five launches into space are expected, with the highlight of the launches - the Venus satellite, the result of a collaboration between the Israeli and French aerospace industries, likely to be launched between mid-May and mid-June of this year.
Alongside this, the minister warned that "Israel may reach a crisis situation where we do not have enough communication satellites which are like air for us to breathe. The Minister of Finance personally promised me support regarding the Amos 6 explosion, support in the form of money to build a replacement satellite, but up to this moment we have not received a response from the Treasury regarding this matter, and we expect a complete mobilization of the Treasury. I estimate that there will be a struggle here."
Inbal Kreis, Deputy Director of Bat Halal, Israel Aerospace Industries, stated that "the next communication satellite project must be started quickly." If the recommendations of the committee established by the Minister of Science are implemented, we will be able to maintain a communication system that will respond to our needs as a country. This year we intend to release two satellites into space, but in the summer we will find ourselves without an aerial space program as a continuation, we must take care of budgeting."
MK Yael Cohen Faran: "Perhaps there are no boycotts at the state level, but there are difficulties for academics to publish articles as well as creating collaborations, you can't say it doesn't exist."
MK Haim Yelin: "Science has a very important role in both deterrence and business development, but we lag behind in legislation compared to technology, it is running and we are not able to legislate at this pace. We have recently seen how the regulations of various ministries seriously harm the drone industry which can bring billions into Israel, I call on your ministry to get into the thick of the matter of the regulations."
MK Michael Malchiali: "Precisely the Ministry of Science, a field that is supposedly publicly cut off from the ultra-orthodox sector, gives important emphasis to the sector and participates in more and more projects, I welcome that."
MK Manuel Trachtenberg: "We must invest in the promotion of women and girls in the field of science, if we do not act, this will be a hindrance to us all along the way. There are only 2 doctoral students in physics at Tel Aviv University. It can be changed, but it should be a national goal."
Later in the discussion, the director general of the ministry, Peretz Vazan, presented the increase in the budget for the next two years and its division into the various purposes. Among other things, Vezan presented the investment in international cooperation, in digital literacy, in the satellite field and in the fields of research and development.
The chairman of the committee summed up the discussion: "In about two weeks we will have an extensive discussion on the issue of communication satellites and we will go into depth on the issue. There are a number of other issues that we have not touched on, we will continue to monitor what is being done and inspect as required of us."
More on the subject on the science website
- Minister Akunis ordered the formulation of a national space program following the explosion of the Amos 6
- A committee headed by the director of the Ministry of Science Peretz Vezan, appointed by Minister Ofir Akunis following the explosion of Amos 6 recommends building a communication satellite once every four years
- Chaval Communications ordered the Amos 17 satellite from Boeing to replace Amos 5
