1 August 2006Optibase proprietary EC R&D funding September 2006 Danny Lustiger CFO Optibase Ltd

2 August 2006Optibase proprietary Agenda What is the EC program Case study - Optibase Who are we? What do we do in the EC Programs How we did it? Strategy, Tactics and Tips How the government can contribute to increase the Israeli companies participation? How the CFO forum can contribute to this initiative?

3 August 2006Optibase proprietary The EC R&D program Support European R&D innovative activities. Central control and budget. Large budget. (17 Billion for the 6 TH Program and 49 Billion for the 7 th program) Very generous in terms of funding and support (75% funding). Work mainly in consortiums. (Few partners from different countries) All the major player in the European Industry participate in this program. Great opportunity to establish strategic and business relations with the main players in Europe. Long terms programs (4-7 years) Variety of topics. Touches almost every subject. Israel is a full member since the 4 th Program (1997) So far the Israeli Industry wasn’t exposed enough to the huge opportunity. The returns are good but can be much better.

4 August 2006Optibase proprietary FP7 – The seventh program Suggested budget of 49 Billion Euro Cooperation – total 32.2 Billion Euro Health 5,984 Million Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology 1,936 Million Information and Communication Technologies 9,083 Million Nano-sciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production Technologies 3,467 Million Energy 2,236 Million Environment (including Climate Change) 1,886 Billion Transport (including Aeronautics) 4,150 Million Socio-economic Sciences and the Humanities 607 Million Security and Space 2,855 Million Ideas 7,532 Million People 4,577 Million Capacities 4,121 Million

5 August 2006Optibase proprietary Why participate? Finance: Grants Vs. “Loans” (No need to pay royalties). Funding of 75% of the total R&D expenses for small/medium enterprises No limit on expenses. ( Reasonable marketing and administrative expenses are permitted, allow high overheads and no limit on level of salaries). Long term planning (4 years in FP6, 7 years in FP7) Huge budgets (17 B in FP6 and 49 B in FP7) over variety of subjects. Technology: Exposure and visibility to innovative cutting-edge technology Support in high-risk projects and technology development Marketing: Strategic contacts and closer ties with European industry, business and research institutes. Open doors to European companies. Early and better view of the market and its trends. IP No Intellectual Property rights for EC (Vs Chief Scientist).

6 August 2006Optibase proprietary CASE STUDY - OPTIBASE

7 August 2006Optibase proprietary About Optibase Founded in 1990 Public since 1999 (NASDAQ – OBAS) Provider of standard video encoding and streaming solutions Worldwide sales and support presence Strong Intellectual Property Financially sound position ~ 150 people in Israel Experts in Digital video and IPTV technology.

8 August 2006Optibase proprietary Optibase Core Competence: Video/Audio Encoding Transcoding Streaming Streaming / Networking Protocols over IP, ATM, DVB DVB to IP conversions Multiplexing, splicing technologies Product Portfolio: Solutions for providers of IPTV and broadband TV services Equipment for broadcasters, content providers and other video applications

9 August 2006Optibase proprietary Optibase “Track – Record” in EC Active in EC programs since FP4 (1997) Participation in 16 projects over the last five years Coordinators of three projects Ongoing projects Participant in four projects. Over 5M EURO net over the years (FP4-FP6) to support R&D activities) Established business relations with major players in the EC.

10 August 2006Optibase proprietary Optibase’ Projects

11 August 2006Optibase proprietary Optibase Partners in EC projects (partial) T-system Nova (Deutsche Telekom ) TILAB (Italia telecom) Philips Research Telediffusion De France (France Telecom) Telefonica I+D Thales Broadcast and Multimedia ALCATEL Portugal Telecom Innovacao IRT Fraunhofer IIS

12 August 2006Optibase proprietary Our Strategy to Win Projects Study the process inside / out (Good feasibility check) Commit Management (time & resources) Allocation of resources (the first attempt might be expensive….) Appoint Champions (R&D, Marketing and Finance) Top people for the whole process Stick to the company road map Plan to be a coordinator. (Participation is also good but being a coordinator leaves the control and major budget within our hands) Use a professional consultant. (At list for the first time) Take advantage of the government support. (funds, institutions, ISERD) Maintain relationships with project partners Nurture your branding in the community Workshops, concertation, documents and reports Once you “joined the club” things are much easier…

13 August 2006Optibase proprietary Tactics Tailor Project to Company’s road map Find and select the right partners. Establish contacts – The past perpetuates itself Use professional experts for: Support good feasibility check Finding partners Support in writing Project Document Project negotiation Project administrations Maintain close ties with the EC project officers EC and local Workshops and events

14 August 2006Optibase proprietary Tips (1) – The Idea Good, interesting, innovative ideas Good fit to Strategic Objectives and EC goals Attached to the company road map Have clear vision of the goals, workplan and results Balanced construction of the consortium (type, geography, size)

15 August 2006Optibase proprietary Tips (2) – The planning Define and keep proposal preparation workplan towards deadline Early stage – partners’ roles and budget Use common project structure Plan the work as in any real project (Gantt) with early deliverables for the specification and design stages Build a well-structure proposal Sound Work-Packages Spread resources evenly between Work-Packages Build a balanced consortium.

16 August 2006Optibase proprietary Tips (3) – The writing Writing the proposal – clear, readable, promising, outstanding Respect the auditors - don't submit a proposal that you wouldn't accept Capture the auditors in their first 10 minutes Nock-out introduction A picture worth 1000 words Make it clear where is the advance over state-of-the-art Address all parts of the template (management, workplan, dissemination and exploitation and others) Don’t hesitate to use professional experienced writers Assign writings tasks to all partners but be ready to edit and write most of the proposal

17 August 2006Optibase proprietary Points to Consider Project acceptance rate of ~ 25% Nothing is guarantied. The evaluation criteria are very objective. There is no room for any involvement of the company. You should address and explain all the requested issues within the proposal. Evaluation is not anonymous, the submitters’ names play a role Entering the club looks difficult (at the first attempt). Long term planning – between submission and project start Large and long projects – require long term vision and innovation Management overhead The more you wait - it’s getting harder, and FP7 is coming…

18 August 2006Optibase proprietary How the government can support ? Decide to accept the European invitation and join the program. Keep the Israeli status as FULL MEMBER of the program. Allocate the necessary budget for the Israeli participation. Maintain the Israel Directorate for the EU programme (ISERD). (There is a need to improve its reach to the Israeli Industry) Establish a fund to support the participation of the Israeli Industry: Support the preparation of proposals by funding a fraction of the first attempt. (There is a good start by the OCS).

19 August 2006Optibase proprietary What CFO forum can contribute? Support the Israeli participation in the European program. Help to convince the government to accept the European invitation and join the program. Lobby to increase the support in Israeli participation, mainly the government support in proposal preparation. (Having a fund similar to the old marketing fund). Increase the Israeli Industry awareness for the huge business and funding opportunity

20 August 2006Optibase proprietary Thank you !! Danny Lustiger Optibase Ltd. Phone: Cell: