Israel's mobile innovation scout, the IMA

Israel is no ordinary country and thus it comes as no surprise that IMA (Israel Mobile & Communication Association) is no ordinary trade organization either.
Privately owned and with a global network of over 30 business partners, the IMA claims to have generated a vast number of deals, hundreds of strategic partnerships, facilitated investments of over 500M Euros and established close relationships with over 150 operators worldwide serving billions of subscribers.
Throughout its nine years of existence, the IMA has focused on generating deals between Israeli mobile product vendors and operators/business partners globally, mainly by helping to scout for the most innovative products on the Israeli mobile market. And there’s certainly no shortage of innovation: indeed, Israel is purportedly one of the top three leading innovation eco-systems in the world.
The association’s product/company portfolio runs the gamut from firms dealing in multimedia and music, LBS, tourism and travel, mobile social communities, gaming, converged services, mobile payments, enterprise solutions, behavioral analytics, 3-screens applications, BSS/OSS, and infrastructure (including backhaul).
Perhaps the most interesting service the IMA offers its member companies is a cutting edge lab and access to state of the art R&D, which allows firms to thoroughly test and improve their wares before bringing them to market.
The IMA’s team is also noteworthy, comprised of executives with backgrounds in various multi-disciplinary skills and experience in the areas of, funding, technology, marketing, business development and strategy.
RCR Unplugged spoke to IMA founder Eyal Reshef about his vision for the non-profit association, video below.