“Trade” shows aren’t always the best place to get detailed information about the specifics of a company or a technology, but they’re a great place to get an overall impression of an industry. So it was with this year’s mid-May IVA show, coming after the traumatic financial events that have rocked the world in recent months. No doubt about it – Israeli hi-tech is limping as a result of those events, which have resulted in layoffs and company closures. Venture capital funds, meanwhile have become much more conservative in disbursing their largesse on startups; the performance bar has been set higher, so only ideas with the most merit – as in moneymaking potential – are going to get funded. It makes sense.

In the past, shows have been great places to score fun fan fare – T-shirts, hats, keychains, etc – all those little “status symbols” that show you “know someone” in the business (don’t try to deny you think those trinkets are cool!). But as usually happens in a downturn, the giveaways are the first to go; I was lucky to get business cards out of some people! Clearly, if we are to judge by the “freebie index,” Israeli hi-tech is in a major funk.

Without freebies to pursue at the show, I was forced to pay attention to the presentations and the technology of the companies attending; for balance, I sought out some investors as well (these were far more reluctant to speak than the tech people, of course, and demanded absolute anonymity). Thus I was able to gage the opinions of several people on the investing side of things, including one (very) heavy-hitter.

To tie these diverse observations together: It’s possible that next year’s freebie index will be somewhat improved, as investors are itching (at least one told me) to get back in the game, and if the recent good news on the stock markets continues, investors will feel more confident to invest in some of the technologies that clearly are going to have a major impact on the way we live, when they finally come to market. And those technologies are definitely worth investing in!

First, the technologies: At the show, I spent a lot of time in the area called the “Startup Pavilion,” where the real bootstrap companies hang out (as opposed to the more established startups that were presenting in the show’s sessions). Among the very cool companies I came across were: InphoDrive (http://inphodrive.com/), which is developing a voice-driven “infotainment” system for vehicles that will make driving safer; MobileRL (http://www.mobilerl.com/), which has a product that lets advertisers and media researchers determine with much greater accuracy the effectiveness of their campaigns; Leviathan Energy (http://www.leviathanenergyinc.com/), which believes that wind is a much better bet for alternative energy production than are solar photovaltic systems; and BioSpiral (http://www.biospiral.com/), with a technology that uses cooling & heating technologies to destroy prostate cancer, without need to resort to a knife.

I may have summed up their ideas in a line (because of space considerations), but rest assured that all four of these companies – plus numerous others – are doing unique stuff; VC’s would already have pumped millions into these and other technologies if this were 2007 (I intend to profile many of these companies in future articles). But 2009 isn’t 2007, as so many of us have found out in recent months (it should be noted that a number of these companies have products and services that are ready for market, and some are even working on ‘big deals’).

While trying to secure funding for a great technology nowadays is perhaps harder than it’s ever been, being an investor in times like these is no picnic either. VC’s are in business to make money, not lose it – hence their conservatism in matters fiduciary at this juncture. The investors just aren’t handing over the money the way they used to. But what are their alternatives? Sticking the money in the bank for a grand 1% return? It works for awhile, several investors have told me, but banking investment money is not a long-term strategy; they didn’t get where they are today by avoiding risk. Just the opposite.

This is where the strategy being pursued by many governments around the world, which are pumping money into the local economies, comes in handy, one major investor told me. “A trillion dollars is big money,” he said, referring to the potential deficit in this year’s U.S. budget, “and there’s certainly a risk of inflation. But it’s helping to build confidence, without which investors are just going to be too scared to invest in hi-tech. And we do want to invest in hi-tech, especially Israeli hi-tech, because Israel has traditionally had some of the most important startup technologies anywhere.” Among the people I spoke with were representatives of the New York Stock Exchange/EuroNext, who told me there were four IPOs so far this year on their global exchange. Considering where we were last October, it’s a good sign – and hopefully augurs a change for the better.

When things turn sour, it’s customary for pundits to push the “grim slide” theory – that things are bound to get worse. But keep in mind that some of the greatest innovations were actually first sold or marketed during recessions and depressions (http://tinyurl.com/cuwt8m). Sooner or later things bounce back – and no doubt some of the technologies that are going to be poised to help turn things around were right there at the IVA show. And I expect some cool freebies when those companies do start making it big.

Well, guess what else is responsible for 2% of air pollution: Your computer! Yes, you read that right: According to the Gartner computer industry analyst group, the total amount of electricity used to power PCs, servers, office telecommunication systems, printers, etc. – and the air conditioning units used to keep them from overheating – is the same as that consumed by big, bad jet airliners! And the problem is just getting worse: the amount of energy used in IT environments doubles every five years!

That unfortunate fact doesn’t sit well with Yisrael Katzir, HP’s national Israel technology solutions group presales manager – and he, along with the HP Israel presales team intends to do something about it. Actually, the efforts by Katzir and HP Israel to increase awareness of the negative energy implications of large scale “computer pollution” is just a part of Hewlett-Packard worldwide’s attempts to raise consciousness about reducing emissions resulting from computer use and support, Katzir says in an interview.

While “green computing,” the moniker given this new concern for IT systems’ impact on the environment, extends to all levels and aspects of the industry – from energy saving monitors to low consumption printers – the biggest and fastest energy saving yields come from working with large corporations with numerous server installations. There’s a lot that can be done on that front, says Katzir – cutting emissions for the environment by cutting energy use, and saving some hefty sums to boot, he says.

Howso? Well, Katzir says, there are a number of strategies – using efficient hardware, innovative software, and clever data management techniques – to reduce energy use in large server farms and IT installations. Sometimes it’s a matter of something as simple as repositioning the way servers are set up in a server room – called “best practices” in the HP green philosophy book – to enable more efficient server room cooling, reducing the amount of juice being drawn by the a/c. Other strategies consist of consolidation of servers in different parts of the building or city, utilizing the resources of a single room more efficiently (server racks in many companies are often half empty, HP studies have shown, so if a company is doing serious cooling in numerous half empty server rooms, it can easily and simply save power by consolidating its servers into one room). In fact, says Katzir, many of the actions that companies can take to save energy – and money – are easy, logical, and are likely to be implemented anyway.

Then there are the more active steps companies can take – steps and procedures that Katzir’s team helps companies around the country to implement. One strategy that saves not only energy but also outlay on hardware is server virtualization – running two or more servers on the same hardware, thus reducing the physical number of servers used by an organization and saving on the power required to run both systems. Between virtualization and its first cousin, consolidation – packing more data onto single machines – companies can reduce their IT department energy use by as much as 25%, Katzir says Remember, it’s not just about making do with less hardware – it’s about bringing everything together, preferably in a single location, thus reducing the area of the building that needs to be cooled. Then there are the blade server systems that, where modular components come together under a managed energy policy, another electricity saver even midsized businesses can take advantage of.

“Dynamic power throttling” is yet another innovative technology. Using this system, software determines whether or not max power is needed to run the currently active application. Applications that don’t require a lot of processing power, for example, would be run with less power coming into the server, as it may need only one of the several processors in the server. Why not turn them off when not in use?

And then there’s the “crown jewel” in HP’s stable of energy saving techniques – dynamic smart cooling. One of the biggest power drains in the server room is air conditioning; keeping the machines from melting down is one of the most challenging tasks for server system managers. With standard a/c systems, the cold air blows around the room, with some parts of the room cooler and some parts warmer – another enormously inefficient energy waster. The dynamic smart cooling system saves energy and money by regulating the flow of air inside a server room, ensuring a uniform temperature in all parts of the room.

While it’s very sporting of companies to care about the environment, you would think that, with all they have on the their plate, green computing would not be at the top of many corporate executives’ agendas. Wrong, says Katzir – the response to his team’s efforts in this area have been met with great interest among many mid and large sized companies, he says. “With the environment becoming such a major issue for governments around the world, companies have become much more aware of the problems of excessive energy consumption,” says Katzir. “Their stockholders demand it, and in many places, governments are going to begin demanding it as well.” In fact, he says, more and more requests for proposals for computing systems – especially for new facilities – include requiring provisions for green computing. It’s not just about energy, Katzir says – it’s about money, too, and during these days of mounting oil costs, that counts for a lot.

And HP practices what it preaches, Katzir says. The company aims to reduce its total energy use by at least a quarter within the next two years – and will consolidate what was once over 300 data centers into just three, with each providing all services and backup for each other. If the company is putting its money where its mouth is, there can be no doubt about it – green computing is here to stay.