Israeli High-Tech Company Holds Overseas Conference on Election Day
Israeli company Quantum Machines is holding a conference in Chicago on the day of the Knesset elections. The scheduling has sparked dissatisfaction among employees concerned about their ability to exercise their right to vote.
The Israeli company Quantum Machines will hold a conference in Chicago on the day of the Knesset elections. The event is scheduled for October 26-28, and Calcalist has learned that this has caused dissatisfaction among employees who did not want to miss their democratic right.
The company stated that no employees would be forced to attend and that only a single-digit number of Israeli managers and staff would travel to the conference. However, the notice to employees regarding the permission to be absent was issued only recently. Most of the speakers at the conference are foreigners.
Quantum Machines was founded in early 2018 by CEO Dr. Itamar Sivan, CTO Dr. Yonatan Cohen, and Chief Engineer Dr. Nissim Ofek. The company employs 170 people, half of them in Israel. It develops control technology for quantum computers.
The company stated:
"The AQC (Adaptive Quantum Circuits) conference is a leading professional international conference, held for the third consecutive year in late October and early November. The conference brings together about 200 participants, speakers, and executives from the world's leading technology companies and academia. Planning for a conference of this type, including contractual engagements with suppliers and the host hotel, is carried out over half a year in advance, long before the election date was known. Most of the conference participants and company employees attending it belong to the GTM team, most of which is located abroad (USA, Europe, and Asia). After it became clear that the election date falls during the conference, the company decided to reduce the number of employees arriving from Israel to the required minimum, so that the number of participants from Israel would be a single digit. The company views the exercise of the democratic right as of paramount importance and encourages its employees to exercise their right to vote."
