b'ODED DISTELOded Distel is CEO of Tal-Ya Agricultural Solutions. Tal-Ya is teaming up with Mother Nature to create an ideal microclimate for the roots of young trees and vegetables plants. The technology is simple and brilliant at the same time. It touches on the major challenges of modern agriculture and forestry in a very elegant way. In addition, farmers are not required to change their protocol nor to take on heavy financial obligations. Oded is also a Co-Founder in H2OLL, an innovative startup that is producing drinking water from air in extra dry regions. The company is using absorption technology that was developed at the Technion in Haifa and is different than the conventional direct cooling method. This allows the company to operate in much harsher conditions. A prototype is already producing 300 liters of top-quality drinking water per day, and a full-scale system producing 1000 liters a day will be ready in the Negev Desert in March 2024.Oded was the Founder and Director of Israel NewTechIsraels world-renowned National Energy & Water Program at the Ministry of Economy & Industry. The pioneering program brought all stakeholdersstartups, entrepreneurs, companies, multinationals, academia, regulators, policy makers, and investorsto cooperate and build smart solutions to global challenges. Israel has the keys to play a vital role in addressingthe world climate challenge.Israel NewTech is recognized as a successful case study of an innovative and effective way government can be involved in fostering an ecosystem. Oded played a pivotal role initiating and leading the program, and he is recognized both in Israel and internationally as the leading expert on Israels water sector.Oded was selected to the list of the 100 Most Influential People in Israeli Hi-Tech by the prestigious Geektime website. Prior, Oded was the Director of the Investment Promotion Center (IPC) Invest in Israel which serves as the marketing agency for foreign investments in Israel. Oded holds a B.A. in Business Administration and an MBA, both from the School of Business Administration in Tel Aviv.A MOSAIC OF ISRAEL|75 UNSUNG HEROS'