The Board
Meet Our Board
Dr. Edna Pasher
Dr. Edna Pasher earned her PhD in Communication Arts and Sciences from New York University. She has served on the faculties of Adelphi University, the City University of New York, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University, and currently teaches at Ben-Gurion University and Western Galilee Academic College.
In 1978, she founded Edna Pasher PhD & Associates Ltd., a pioneering consulting firm that provides tailored services to organizations across both the private and public sectors.
A trailblazer in the fields of innovation and knowledge management in Israel, Dr. Pasher has been a leading voice in advancing these disciplines and an active member of the international community of knowledge management pioneers.
Dr. Pasher is also the co-founder and past chairperson of the Israeli Institute for Smart Cities, continuing to promote innovation, sustainability, and knowledge sharing as drivers of urban and societal transformation.
Shmuel Ben-Tovim
Shmuel is President & CEO of the Israel Fintech Center (IFC), the largest and most influential Fintech organization in Israel. Founded in 2013, IFC is the home of the entire Fintech ecosystem in Israel, including tech companies, regulators, financial institutions, investors, consultants, academia, and many more, altogether close to 5,000 members.
In 2015, Shmuel was one of the founders of the Israel Smart Cities Institute and has served on the Board since then. He is also the Founding Chairman of the Israel-Malta Chamber of Commerce, established in 2018.
Shmuel is both a business and social entrepreneur with a diverse career in the public and private sectors. Among his previous positions:
- Directly elect Mayor of Kfar Shmaryahu
- Member of the Herzliya Regional Planning Committee
- Chief Economic Consultant to Tel Aviv Global Ltd.
- Minister for Economic Affairs at The Embassy of Israel in London
- Assistant Director General of the Bank Leumi Group.
- Chief Economic Adviser to the Ministers of Industry, Trade & Tourism
- Israel’s Consul & Trade Commissioner to the USA
Shmuel has served as a non-executive director in leading Israeli corporations, including Bezeq Ltd., Israel Chemicals Ltd., The Jerusalem Economic Corporation Ltd., and the Tel-Aviv Development Corporation Ltd. He was a board member of the Tel-Aviv Chamber of Commerce and of the Israel Export Institute.
Shmuel holds a BA in Economics and an MBA from the Hebrew University.
Mr. Sergio Vinitsky
Specialized in providing solutions for private and public sector, identifying innovative business opportunities for local and international clients, enabling rapid progress and fostering strategic alliances in today’s global market. Extensive experience in the Israeli market, serving as manager and consultant to leading enterprises.
Main Activities:
- International Business Developer for private and public companies and enterprises
- Planner, builder and supporter of strategic plans for local authorities
- Fira Barcelona Delegate for Israel, including Smart City Expo World Congress
- Integrated Systems Europe – ISE, Delegate for Israel
- Consultant, lecturer and mentor at the Israeli Export Institute
- Consultant at the Israel Ministry of Economy and Industry
- Advisor at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Lecturer at the International Institute of Leadership
Graduated from the Israeli Institute of Technology – TECHNION, BSc., Faculty of Industry Engineering and Management, majoring in Economics and Management (1986).
Graduated from the Ruppin Academic Center, MBA., Faculty of Management and Economics, specializing in Leadership, Strategy, and Senior Management (2020)
Graduated from the Israel’s Directors Union - IDU (2019)
DR. Zvi Weinstein
Dr. Zvi Weinstein is a multidisciplinary academic. He holds several degrees, among
them: Urban Regeneration (PhD), Town and Regional Planning (MSc.),
Environment and Urban Sustainability (MA), Public Policy (MA), Law (MA),
Emergencies and Disasters Situations (MA), Environmental Studies (MA), Aspects
of Social and Policy in Climate Change (MA).
He was a former National Coordinator for Project Renewal of Disadvantaged
Neighborhoods at the Ministry of Construction and Housing (1977-2015). He is
the CO-Founder of the Israeli Smart Cities Institute; A long-time committee
member of the EU-COST Actions representing Israel (1994 to date);
He holds a membership in The Association of Israel Planners; The
Israeli Climate Forum; Major Cities of Europe; Tel Aviv University, The Technion
Haifa Institute, and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem alumni.
He offers tutoring on a voluntary basis to students who are writing their thesis on
urbanism and social aspects issues; Participating in international conferences
related to his field of interests; His articles and researches are published both in
Israel and in the international literature, using his academic background and best
practices from the field.
Main Activities:
- International Business Developer for private and public companies and enterprises
- Planner, builder and supporter of strategic plans for local authorities
- Fira Barcelona Delegate for Israel, including Smart City Expo World Congress
- Integrated Systems Europe – ISE, Delegate for Israel
- Consultant, lecturer and mentor at the Israeli Export Institute
- Consultant at the Israel Ministry of Economy and Industry
- Advisor at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Lecturer at the International Institute of Leadership
Graduated from the Israeli Institute of Technology – TECHNION, BSc., Faculty of Industry Engineering and Management, majoring in Economics and Management (1986).
Graduated from the Ruppin Academic Center, MBA., Faculty of Management and Economics, specializing in Leadership, Strategy, and Senior Management (2020)
Graduated from the Israel’s Directors Union - IDU (2019)
Yossi Dan
Yossi Dan is an open innovation expert. He helps cities, multinationals and organizations enable growth via Innovation and Tech activities, including bootcamps/hackathons, learning expeditions and biz/tech escorting.
Deep into sustainable innovation projects in both the industry (for Bouygues, EDF, L'Oréal, TotalEnergies and Veolia to name a few) and in the Public Private Partnerships, he was an active part of the H2020 IoT-EPI, the 55M € project that fostered IoT Innovation in 20+ European cities.
Yossi is a founding member of the Israel Smart Cities Institute.
Mr. Dani Morgenstern
Environmental and waste management expert. Former manager of marine and railway delivery in the Ministry of transportation. Senior member of the national committee of solid waste recycling.
Eng. Danny Marian
Danny Marian is the Chairman of the Israeli Association of Construction and Infrastructure Engineers (IACIE), a Civil Engineer, a businessman and corporate director. He Specializes in, real-estate ,contracting, construction and infrastructure initiatives as well as BOT and PFI projects.
As Chairman of IACIE, a statutory association that represents all civil engineers in Israel, he is an ex officio member of government committees, the Board of Directors of the Standards Institution of Israel, and the Governmental Council of Engineering and Architecture.
Danny has specialized in high rise buildings development and construction. He is a member of the CTBUH and through IACIE was co-founder of CTBUH Israel.
He is experienced in initiating and managing tenders for BOT infrastructure projects and other PPP projects, including long term involvement in the largest BOT project in Israel, the Cross-Israel Highway. He was a partner in several consortia that competed for a wide variety of projects and were awarded several of them.
As a past and present member of many Boards of Directors and managerial bodies,
Danny Marian has extensive knowledge and experience in initiating, establishing, acquiring, managing and supervising companies and projects of all kinds. His specialties are integrative management of large, complex systems; he focuses on improvement and streamlining the operation while creating internal synergy.
As CEO of the largest construction contractor in Israel (Danya Cebus) for seven years and as board member for 8 years of Electra the major contracting, M&E and FM company in Israel , Marian acquired extensive experience in managing and operating contracting companies responsible for very large construction projects, with emphasis on integrating the business and engineering-operational aspects.
Mr. Shmuel Barkan
Providing Strategic Planning & Execution follow up based on unique Quantum Theory. High level Strategic Leadership and strong ability in business development and technology with focus on Economic AI & IoT implementation.
Shmuel has extensive managing experience in a global company with regional responsibility, along with rich experience in managing High Tech companies in Israel and abroad.
Previous positions: General Manager of Motorola Semiconductors (SPS) Israel, Director of Sales and Marketing for Eastern Europe & Middle East and Africa at Freescale Semiconductors, Managing Director of Elisra – Gan LTD, CEO of Gad – Line Ltd, CEO of the ELIS GmbH in Austria (was based four years in Vienna), and in Tadiran Communications: Marketing Director for North America on a mission (was based four years in New York), Development Engineer, Engineering Manager and Operations Manager.
BSc degree in Electrical Engineering from the Technion institute in Haifa, Certificate studies in Business Administration for Senior Managers at Bar Ilan University, Corporate Governance at IDC and Strategic Consulting & Coaching at Technion Institute.
Member of Shenkar, Engineering Faculty BOA.
Mr. Hagai Dafna
Senior organizational consultant. Director/partner at TNUFA company consultants. M.Sc. in business administration and graduated M.A. in educational-clinical psychology with 38 years of experience in organizational development, and experience in working with local authorities and ministries to national project. Partner of the Ministry of education in the field of unique development in schools and consulting municipal managers in implementing the program in several cities.
Senior Officer (Col. ret.) in the HFC-expert assessments and coping with emergencies and consultant in the field of immune to the national emergency authority. Led program evaluations in the northern cities following the second Lebanon war. Partner to develop community models for dealing with emergency situations. Dealing with dozens of local authorities in the field of emergency Ministry of welfare.
Mr. Eddie Bet-Hazavdi
Eddie is an expert for energy efficiency and conservation, renewable energy, energy regulations standards & policy and the management of energy in cities.
He was the director of the Department for Energy Conservation and Smart cities at the Israel Ministry of National Infrastructures until December 2017. During his tenure he was in charge on implementing energy conservation and energy efficiency regulations for the government, in charge on the reduction of energy consumption in all sectors, implementing DSM projects and Energy efficiency projects, introducing and promoting new energy saving technologies, promoting educational programs on energy conservation and training courses. Eddiewrote the National energy efficiency plan to reduce electricity consumption by 20% until 2020.
Eddieis also a member of the Environment committee at the Israel Standards Institute (, since 1986), and head of smart cities committee at the Israeli standards institute. He is a member of the National Green Building Committee, The Electric PV forum and other organisations. He was head of auditors for the smart cities contest in Yintchuan China organized by TMForum. As of Jan. 2018 he is CO of SigmaSmart consultants.
Mr. Joseph Golan
Expert in Managing Innovation & Excellence in Organizations, improving performance and increasing productivity through a unique academically-acclaimed method, successfully implemented over years.
Mr. Golan is chairman of FlyTech IL, providing aerial solutions & drones, chairman of the “Innovation & Initiative Club “of Bar-Ilan University Business School and director in the Manufacturer’s Association of Israel.
He holds a master’s in management sciences (MSM) from Boston University and a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the Technion Haifa.
As Col. (res.) he held several senior positions in Command, Management, Development, Operations & Production and Quality: In the IDF as the Commander of the Testing and Evaluation Unit in the Ordnance Corps, Head of Weapon Systems Division, Deputy General Manager at Chartered Elector-Optics Pte Ltd (Singapore), VP Operation Production & Purchasing at Elop, VP Quality & Excellence at Elbit Systems ISTAR.
Mr. Avigdor Sharon
Avigdor is passionate about creating engaging sustainable environments for work, learning and urban life in a systems approach – ranging from alively urban experience to thriving digital collaborative work places– all inter-connected as an ecosystem of work-life experience. A great win-win for both people, organizations and the cities they are in.
Avigdor is the environment and sustainability associate at the Israel Smart Cities Institute, facilitator of the ISCI School for Smart Cities and mentor of urban sustainability learning programs. He has an M.A in Environmental Studies from Tel Aviv University and is pursuing multi-disciplinary PhD research in Environmental Studies and Organizational Behavior. He is a researcher at the Urban Innovation and Sustainability lab at Tel Aviv University and editor-in-chief of the Department of Environmental Studies website at the university.
Following years of experience as enterprise knowledge architect at Amdocs, Avigdor is also a digital platforms expert. He is head of delivery at Social Knowledge, designing and implementing collaborative digital work spaces and learning platforms for collaborativeknowledge sharing, co-learning & co-productivity. A board member of the Israel Knowledge Management Forum and a member of the ISO Knowledge Management Expert Committee, designing ISO 30401 Knowledge Management Systems standard (ISO/TC 260/WG 6 – International standardISO 30401).
Mrs. Rachel Pasher Eijkenaar
Rachel is an Attorney at Law. The owner of a boutique Legal practice that focuses on Intellectual Property Law and Knowledge protection. She has experience in Copyrights, Patent litigation, Designs, Trademarks, Trade secrets, knowledge protection, Computer Software and Internet, Contracts, Employment and commercial Law, especially in reference to Intellectual Property and knowledge.
Rachel Leads an ISCI project for an Israeli city, regarding the protection and smart exploitation of Intellectual Property and valuable knowledge within the Municipality.
Rachel is a member of the Israeli BAR, INTA- International Trademark Association and a certified mediator at the GOME institute for mediation.
She has written more than 150 articles about legal issues, such as Intellectual Property, for STATUS, the Israeli Management magazine.
Mr. Erez R. Mizrachi
Erez is A digital/business/culture Transformation leader, combining deep Product knowledge, rich bottom-up insights and strategic operations know-how to lead change, innovation and growth in global organizations and cities (smart cities).
Deeply involved in the early stage scene as former founder of startups in The Mobility, AI and FinTech spaces. Erez is also MP @Kanarit in addition to mentor and founder at several accelerators, serial learner and New Media pioneer. Founding member of the Israel Smart City Institute. Committee member of the Merage Foundation leading the Smart City and FoodTech Chapters. Leader of over 2K tech founders community.
Prof. Otthein Herzog
Prof. Herzog has collected extensive knowledge throughout his professional career in management, applied research and Artificial Intelligence software solutions:
at IBM Germany as software developer, Senior Manager in Software Development, and Member of the Extended Board of IBM Germany Development GmbH,
as Chair of Artificial Intelligence at the CS Department, University of Bremen, Germany,
developing knowledge-based systems with 40 full-time researchers for Business Process Engineering, Big Data Analytics, production planning, logistics planning systems, safety, and security,
founding and directing the technology transfer Institute “TZI – Center for Computing and Communication Technologies” with more than 160 full-time researchers,
co-founding the interdisciplinary Logistics Research Cluster LogDynamics,
as CEO of technology transfer companies in Bremen, Germany,
developing Mobile and Wearable Computing applications for work processes in manufacturing and logistics,
researching Internet of Things technologies for Ambient Assisted Living,
as Fellow of acatech – German National Academy of Science and Engineering,
conducting government advisory projects on advanced technology concepts on
the Internet of Things,
Smart Cities in India and Europe,
Industry 4.0 and Logistics 4.0,
as Summit professor at CIUC, Tongji University, Shanghai, PRC, advancing Big Data Analytics for Urban Planning including the analysis of real-time mobility data leading to quantitative foundations of sustainable Urban Planning.