BGU recently signed an agreement with the Israel National Cyber Bureau to create a national center for the protection of cyberspace, which will significantly advance academic cyber security research in Israel. “The center, created with an $8.5 million three year budget, will advance long term theoretical research and will become a foundational pillar of technological development in Israel in the field of cyber security,” declared Prof. Dan Blumberg, VP and Dean, R&D (elect) and head of the Homeland Security Institute at BGU.
Prof. Yuval Elovici of the Department of Information Systems Engineering will direct the new center, which will be an integral part of the Homeland Security Institute.
BGU has been a leader in cyber security research for more than a decade since signing an agreement with Deutsche Telekom, the Germany-based telecommunications giant. Since then University researchers and alumni have developed an international reputation which has resulted in an ecosystem of major multinational corporations, incubators, IDF units and government agencies opening facilities in Beer-Sheva. That ecosystem has been designated CyberSpark and will put Beer-Sheva on the global map as a knowledge and product development center for cyber security.
In addition to Deutsche Telekom, EMC-RSA has moved into the new Advanced Technologies Park after several years in Beer-Sheva.
On Wednesday, the new offices of Lockheed Martin were dedicated. Lockheed Martin recently signed an agreement with EMC to jointly develop and enhance partnerships with the Israeli industry, government and academic institutions in Beer-Sheva to explore and promote collaborative research and development projects in cloud computing, data analytics and related cyber technologies.
An agreement with IBM to open a Center of Excellence on BGU’s campus is expected to be signed in the near future.
