It’s well known that Israel Defense Forces Military Intelligence Unit 8200 -- Israel’s cyber and code-breaking version of the NSA -- produces the cream of the crop of the country’s tech startups. The largest outfit in the Israeli army, 8200 is so prevalent in the startup ecosystem that it’s even been called Israel’s Startup Machine. An alumni association created by veterans of Unit 9900, a military intelligence unit specializing in gleaning intelligence from geospatial information, satellite and high-altitude surveillance images, and visual information from other sources, has recently started holding tech meetups for its veterans. It's official name is Unit 9900: Terrain Analysis, Accurate Mapping, Visual Collection and Interpretation Agency. “8200 grew on communication and cyber over the past 15 years, but now with machine vision rising, we’re starting to see the power of 9900,” Vaidman says.

Source: Forbes May 28, 2018 10:25 UTC