Personalized medicine
Personalized medicine is an innovative approach in Israel and around the world for preventing and treating diseases that takes into account genetic, biological, behavioral, and environmental differences between individuals. Extensive experience over the years in research laboratories, and at medical institutions, demonstrates significant differences between patients suffering from the same disease. For example, cancerous growths from the same tissue source (such as breast cancer or prostate cancer) may have very different expressions in different patients in terms of their malignancy, and the

ir responsiveness to various treatment protocols. Similar dissimilarity has been observed in a wide variety of human diseases, and in most cases, the causes of this dissimilarity are unknown. This makes it difficult to develop medications and treatment protocols that are optimally tailored to each individual patient.

The Israel Personalized Medicine Initiative (IPMP) will permit Israeli researchers to conduct broad studies based on big data located in the databases of Israeli hospitals and HMOs, which are considered particularly rich and reliable. Making this clinical data available and examining them together with the genomic sequences of volunteers will assist in accelerating the rate of discoveries and the implementation potential of new treatments, and will establish Israel at the forefront of research in the field of personalized medicine.

Quantum Science and Technology
Significant and consistent investment at the national level in developing the field of quantum science and technology is expected to constitute a significant upgrade of Israel’s research abilities and its status as a key player in this field. The development of quantum science and technology is based on an understanding of the interaction between individual degrees of freedom of the system (for example, photons and 

individual atoms) and the development of the technology required to control them. These abilities hold the promise, and in part already allow, the construction of infinitely more powerful computers than those that exist today, alongside encrypted communication that is impervious to eavesdropping, the simulation of systems too complex to calculate using existing computers, sensors far more sensitive than those commonly available, the development of materials with unique characteristics, and more.

Data Science
Data science refers to the collection, management, processing, analysis, and visualization of data associated with a wide range of academic disciplines and commercial applications. In the last several years, the field has experienced increased and accelerated growth, and has benefited from greater investments, both by industry, universities and private research institutes. The reasons for the development of data science are connected to a number of factors: a significant increase in the quantity and availability of data generated around the world, the continual development of methods, algorithms and technologies for processing and analyzing big and varied datasets, and the development of advanced storage solutions.

Data science can help advance research in practically all academic fields and has the potential to be innovative and groundbreaking not only in the exact sciences, but also in the social sciences and the humanities. There is no doubt that advances in this field will result in a leap forward in in terms of research and teaching in a large number of disciplines, and will contribute to Israel’s economic resilience.

Report of the Data Science Steering Committee to the PBC