The Green Frog from Silicon Valley

From Hollywood splash to water non-profit: do you know Matt Damon's partner?

It seems that Matt Damon is still hunting for good will. In a piece in the Daily Beast today, the famous actor brought attention to the water crisis, and made the case that non-profits should be more disruptive and use innovation to make an impact. Matt Damon co-founded Water.org with Gary White to foster new innovative, community-driven and market-based solutions to ensure all people have access to safe water and sanitation. 

On the World Water Day, Matt Damon was featured in a catchy and educational video. "What is the invention that saves the most lives in human history?", he asks. Wait for it… the toilet. Yet, more people have access to cell phones than toilets. It should not be the case. Still today, 10,000 people die every day of water related diseases. Can Matt Damon and his partner Gary White save them?

From high-tech to the water industry: do you know Booky Oren?

One saying in the high-tech industry is that sharp executives "don't take prisoners". The level of competition is intense, and there is a fine line between success and failure. Yet, many executives find themselves unfulfilled after a succesful exit or a solid career. So what to do if you want to do good while keep doing well?

Move from the high-tech to the water sector for example, like Booky Oren did twelve years ago, and have an impact on one of the greatest world's challenges. I first met with Booky Oren in Canada last year. I caught with him earlier this month on his way to the UK. He is traveling the world to enlist partners to not only compete with innovative technologies but to also collaborate to solve the water conendrum.

Mr. Oren is one of the architects behind the vibrant water technology market in Israel, which has spurred succesful companies like Takadu and leads the world in water re-use. He was the Chairman of the WATEC conference last November, which drew 28,000 visitors from 104 countries. His composure is not unlike the one of a general, and he clearly has a vision for the water industry.

The second generation of water technology innovators in Israel

Two months ago, I gave a talk in Silicon Valley on proven and emerging water technologies in the Middle East. As the population grew rapidly in the last century, the Middle East became an early adapter of new desalination solutions. To date, over 50% of the world’s reverses osmosis (RO) plants are deployed in this region.

On my flight from Israel, I remembered when I was first exposed to desalination as a child. My father, Haim Cohen, worked on the first desalination pilot plant outside the US in the 1960’s to provide drinking water in the Negev desert. Close to fifty years later, I joined a new water treatment company, Emefcy, after a first career in IT start-ups. It is fascinating to me how much the two projects have in common despite being half a century apart.