During the week of December 7, 2008 there was a lot of activity in the cleantech sector. Better Place made a few announcements, including its latest deal in Japan and the Technion-Israel Insitute of Technology in Haifa announced that engineers there invented a road surface that generates electricity as cars drive over it. In the IT sector, Actimize, a risk management software company and NICE Systems company,  expanded its partnership with IBM and ActionBase, a provider of Human Process Management Solutions (HPMS), announced its partnership with BackFlip Software to provide instant connectivity to mobile customers.  For these and the rest of this week’s 16 Israel-related headlines, check out the list below.

Cleantech

1. Better Place Goes to Japan

2. Nine clean technology predictions for 2009

3. A group of Israeli engineers have invented a road surface that generates electricity as cars drive over it

Information Technology

4. Actimize Expands IBM Partnership; Embeds Technology to Fight Fraud and Financial Crime

5. BitTorrent and Oversi Collaborate to Deliver Optimal P2P Solution for ISPs in Today’s Financial Downturn

6. N-trig to uses ARC IP in touch screen technologies

7. IBM Research and Samsung Electronics to Boost Automation in Consumer Electronics Industry

8. SaaS and CRM: 30 Percent Penetration by 2012

9. SpeedBit Announces the All New DAP 9

10. ActionBase Utilizes BackFlip Software for Instant Connectivity to Mobile Devices

Telecom

11. Micronet Awarded SIIRD Grant to Develop a New Hybrid Fix-Portable 7′ Color Mobile Data Terminal

12. Chat with your friends without Internet connection

Miscellaneous

13. Birthright guarantees funding through March

14. ‘Social’ life in Jerusalem

15. No Auto Crash for Israel’s Mobileye

16. Israel and Japan Partnering in $1.8 Million Research Programs

Bonus

This past week I came across an interview with the CEO of Check Point that Robert Scoble posted on his Fast Company channel back in May 2008. The interview, which was conducted by Scoble and other tech bloggers, covers what the information security software company does, how it started and why it’s needed, among other things.