cover 2006

30 BGU NOW
Research Collaboration with
Deutsche Telekom
From right: President Prof. Rivka Carmi; CEO of Deutsche Telekom Kai-Uwe Ricke; outgoing President Prof. Avishay Braverman;
Minister Avraham Hirshson
The German communications
company Deutsche Telekom (DT)
has signed an agreement with BGU
to create the Deutsche Telekom
Laboratories at the University,
which will focus on applied research
in the area of information and
communication technologies. This
is the first time that the telecommunications
giant has created an
applied research institute outside
Germany.
CEO of Deutsche Telekom
Kai-Uwe Ricke and a number of
senior DT executives were in Beer-
Sheva to sign the $12.1 million
agreement in the presence of Israeli
Minister of Communications and
Tourism Avraham Hirshson. During
the same ceremony, the University
presented Ricke with the Ben-
Gurion Negev Award in recognition
of his contribution to advancing
scientific research in the region.
Prof. Avishay Braverman lauded
DT’s decision to invest in the Negev,
noting that the decision to locate the
DT Laboratories at BGUwas a direct
result of the University’s efforts to
promote applied research, particularly
in hi-tech industries in the
region. “This fulfills the vision of
David Ben-Gurion and Konrad
Adenauer to develop science and
technology in the Negev and in
Israel,” he said.
Visibly moved by his first visit to
Israel and the University, Ricke
expressed his admiration of Israeli
innovation in the field of information
technology and security.
Describing the agreement to invest
in BGU over the next two years, he
said, “We are putting down a marker
for the research work of DT and the
development of the University,” and
noted that DT is “examining options
to provide venture capital and to
establish an incubator model.”
The new laboratories will be
directed by Dr. Yuval Elovici of the
Department of Information Systems
Engineering, who also heads its
Software Engineering program. He
is currently working with DT on a
research project that focuses on
computer and network security. The
laboratories will initially focus on
several key areas – security in
telecommunications networks; the
organization of software
components distributed over
various networks quickly and
efficiently and their adaptation to
customers’ business processes; and
“intuitive usability,” enabling the
customer to use complex
communications services in an
uncomplicated way.