Deutsche Telekom CEO Announces Creation of Research Laboratories at Ben-Gurion
University of the Negev
	
BEER-SHEVA . The CEO of the German communications company Deutsche
Telekom (DT) and the President of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
announced the creation of the institute Deutsche Telekom (DT)
Laboratories at BGU, 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 on February 6, 2006 to sign the
$12.1 million agreement in the presence of Israeli Minister of
Communications and Tourism Avraham Hirshson. Other signatories to the
historic agreement are Acting University President Prof. Rivka Carmi,
Vice-President and Dean for Research and Development Prof. Moti
Herskowitz, BGN Technologies CEO Netta Cohen and Dr. Yuval Elovici, the
new institute director. 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.
	 
University President Prof. Avishay Braverman lauded DT's decision to
invest in the Negev, "reinforcing our commitment to the highest level
of research. We are proud of our team . an outstanding group of
academics who have proven their ability to compete in the international
marketplace." The decision to locate the DT Laboratories here at BGU,
he said, "is a direct result of the University's efforts to propel
applied research, particularly in hi-tech industries, in the region,
therein fulfilling the vision of David Ben-Gurion and Konrad Adenauer
to develop science and technology in the Negev and in Israel."

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
$12.1 million in BGU over the next three years, he said, "We are
putting down a marker for the research work of Deutsche Telekom and the
development of the University," and noted that DT is "examining options
to provide venture capital and to establish an incubator model."

Hirshson praised the agreement and acknowledged Israel's role as a
leader in innovative technologies. "We have combined the Jewish mind
with Israeli chutzpah, which gives us an advantage in many fields."

The director of the DT Laboratories will be Dr. Yuval Elovici of BGU's
Department of Information Systems Engineering, who also heads its
Software Engineering program, assisted by a team composed of the chairs
of the Departments of Information Systems Engineering, Computer Science
and Communication Systems Engineering . Prof. Yuval Shahar, Prof. Amnon
Meisels and Dr. Michael Segal, respectively.
	  
DT Laboratories at BGU will initially focus on two main areas of great
importance to users of telecommunications services. The topic of
"Security in telecommunications networks" is concerned with
incorporating security features into the telecommunications network
that users themselves previously had to install on their handsets, at
great inconvenience. This will give Deutsche Telekom customers
personalized security zones in which they can use their applications
without having to worry about security details.

DT Laboratories at BGU will initially focus on two main areas of 
great importance to users of telecommunications services. 
The topic of "Security in telecommunications networks" is 
concerned with incorporating security features into the 
telecommunications network that users themselves previously 
had to install on their handsets, at great inconvenience. 
This will give Deutsche Telekom customers personalized security 
zones in which they can use their applications without having to 
worry about security details.
 
The second key research area covered by this cooperation agreement 
is concerned with organizing various software components distributed 
over various networks quickly and efficiently, and adapting them to 
customers' business processes. The third key area revolves around 
"intuitive usability." The object of this is to enable the end-customer 
to use complex telecommunications services in a natural and 
straightforward way. Along with an optimized use of the product 
portfolio, this will incorporate new media and terminal devices 
into telecommunications. The goal of the researchers in respect 
of the man-machine dialog is geared to quality and facilities 
for interpersonal communication.
 
The new research collaboration builds upon  an existing $4 million 
research project  in the area of enhancement of communication networks 
security that is based on an innovative integration of the intelligent 
temporal reasoning and monitoring methods developed by Prof Shahar, 
head of the University's Medical Informatics Research Center 
(originally created for monitoring chronic patients and for the 
integration of intelligence information), with Dr. Elovici's 
network-oriented data-security architecture. The project is led 
by Dr. Elovici. The team includes Profs. Shlomi Dolev and Ehud Gudes 
from the Department of Computer Science. Gil Tahan, a doctoral student 
in the Department of Information Systems Engineering is the project's 
Chief Technology officer.
 
Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom is one of the leading integrated telecommunications 
companies in the world. It offers millions of private and corporate 
customers all over the world the entire spectrum of modern information 
technology and telecommunications services . from wireless communications, 
Internet and fixed-network to complex IT and telecommunications solutions, 
from a single source.
 
Caption: (right to left) Acting President of BGU Prof. Rivka Carmi; 
CEO of Deutsche Telekom Kai-Uwe Ricke; Prof. Avishay Braverman, 
Outgoing President of BGU; Israeli Minister of Communications and 
Tourism Avraham Hirshson; Credit: Dani Machlis/BGU