Israeli inventor honoured by rabbis in Paris for creating life-saving technology

An Israeli entrepreneur has been honoured by leading rabbis in Paris for his invention that helps save lives by prioritising which casualties are most in need of care during an emergency.

Maoz Ben-Ari beat 500 other applications to clinch the Conference of European Rabbis’ (CER) ‘Internet Prize’, with a reward of £15,600 (€18,000).

The award, which is inspired by the Jewish value of tikkun olam or global, social healing, was presented at the Hôtel de Ville in Paris on Tuesday, at an event with keynote speaker Mounir Mahjoubi, French Minister of Digital Affairs.

CER represents more than 700 synagogue communities throughout Europe, and the prize is now in its seventh year.

Ben-Ari’s company, CardioScale, created technology that assesses a patient’s state at the scene of an incident, such as a terror attack or natural disaster, and projects their developing deteriorating condition, even if their vital signs, such as blood pressure or pulse, are at a normal range.

Medics attending to a stabbed soldier after a terror attack. The technology developed by Cardioscale would help first-responders prioritise who is in most need of urgent medical care.

Speaking to Jewish News, he said: “Lives of casualties and injured are lost because we don’t know how to prioritise them on the field.” But, he said, with his invention, “we are able to measure someone with new technology and say who needs to be treated first”.

He added: “We come from Israel, we’re Jewish, and we all know the phrase ‘to save one life is to save the whole world’.”

Speaking of the importance of the prize, he said: “We have been in this business for many years. We believe in our technology and it’s great. In the last few years, we have had lots of recognition, from the Israeli Defence Forces, from the Israeli first responders, and also from Samu 94, the first-responders of Paris.

“It’s always good to have reassurance that someone believes in your technology and ability to change lives and save lives.”

Ben-Ari was joined by two runners up, Thierry Lamidieu, whose company Inergys provides solutions to create renewable energy, and Claudiu Leverenz, a German inventor, whose ‘SmartGlass’ product allows wheelchair-bound disabled people to function more easily.

Moscow’s Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, President of the Conference of European Rabbis, presented the awards. He said: “As religious leaders, we have a duty to embrace technology and use it as a force of good in society. For too long, rabbis have been wary of the internet and the damage it can do, spreading hate and evil.

“We are trying to embrace the internet and turn it into a positive. We want to build a bridge between the world of tradition and the world of tomorrow. These pioneers are showing that the positives can outweigh the negatives.”

Mahjoubi told the guests that he “travelled twice to Jerusalem and I met entrepreneurs there”. He added: “I travel all over the world and meet entrepreneurs. The feeling I have is we speak the same language even if we don’t always share the same tongue.

“I met Palestinian entrepreneurs and I also met a Palestinian accelerator funded by Jews from Tel Aviv. They told me: ‘We don’t have time to speak politics because we do business!’

“Entrepreneurship fosters solidarity, fraternity, and allows us to build ties where we thought it was impossible.”