The Times of Israel reports today that the United States Department of Defense is offering a $100,000 prize next year to an Israeli “startup developing innovative technology for counter-terrorism and/or home-land security applications.” The companies will compete at the  Combating Terrorism Technology Conference in Tel Aviv early next year.

David Shamah, the Times’ technology reporter, writes that “cooperation between the two countries in tech and security continues.”

The Combating Terrorism Startup Challenge is an example of that cooperation. Among the criteria that DoD will be looking for: how functional and beneficial the technology is; how good the start-up’s business plan is; potential/expected return on investment; market demand; political, legal, ethical compliance and sensitivity, credibility, experience, and skill set of management team; and how good the company presentation us, both live and in a three-minute video that start-up has to submit.

The contest is co-sponsored by the DoD and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Enterprise Forum in Israel. The Forum is an organization of MIT graduates and “works to nurture local businesses and especially start-ups.”

Earlier this year this year MIT announced a partnership with Israel’s Ben Gurion University.

[Photo: מכון היצוא / YouTube ]