An initiative of Yad Hanadiv and a collaboration with the National Library of Israel (NLI), “TARBOOT” seeks to connect technology talent from Israel and abroad to the worlds of culture and the arts.
What defines a “moonshot idea
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“To get into our lab you have to highlight a big issue like how to connect people to the internet or how to feed humanity. You need to suggest a radical solution for it and develop groundbreaking technology,” Dr. Aron Gilat explains, “it does not have to happen fast. Our projects take five, even ten years before becoming independent companies, and on the way, we shoot down 95% of the ideas. We are not an investment arm, neither a venture capital fund nor an incubator. Our vision is five to ten years forward in projects, and with healthcare projects, it can take even longer, but the job description is to make the world a better place. In the past, we tried to come up with a list of ideas ourselves, but when we saw that it was endless, we decided to work the other way around, so today we want people to come to us with their ideas.”
What was once known as Google X, the tech giant s most far-out idea hub, is now on its way to Israel. The Jewish state is planned to be the first country outside the U.S. to welcome what is known in Google s parent company Alphabet as the Moonshot Lab.
In about two months, Head of Strategy at X, Dr. Adi Aron Gilat, will return to Israel and will begin recruiting a small group of scientists, fewer than 20, who will work on futuristic developments in such fields as agtech, clean energy, and robotics. Technologies that sometimes are referred to as Deep Tech.