Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and BGN Technologies, BGU's technology transfer company today announced a strategic, multi-year research collaboration, in which Rafael will collaborate with BGU in a variety of fields, including cyber security, smart mobility, robotics, and artificial intelligence (AI).
The agreement was signed at the Cybertech 2019 conference in Tel Aviv by Netta Cohen, chief executive officer of BGN Technologies, and Dr. Ran Gozali, executive vice president and head of Rafael's R&D and Engineering Division.
Pictured avove from left to right: Dr. Uzi Landau, Chairman, Rafael; Netta Cohen, CEO, BGN Technologies; Dr. Ran Gozali, executive vice president and head of Rafael's R&D and Engineering Division.; and Dr. Tzafrir Levy, Senior VP - Exact Sciences and Engineering, BGN Technologies.
This partnership follows Rafael's decision to build an R&D center of excellence in Beer-Sheva's high-tech park, which is located adjacent to BGU, to benefit from the University's talents and expertise in these fields. The new center--to be launched later this year--will focus on different aspects of advanced autonomous systems.
"Rafael's decision to have a significant presence at the high-tech park adjacent to BGU, together with the partnership signed today, is a clear indication of our researchers' leadership in hardware and data related innovation," Cohen said at the signing ceremony. "We are looking forward to closely working with Rafael, a world leader in advanced defense systems, on a variety of cutting-edge projects in different disciplines."
The first two projects will focus on exploring the risk of cyber security breaches in sensors of autonomous cars and how these threats might be mitigated. Autonomous driving requires the use of multiple sensor systems including cameras, radars, and lidar-based systems, all of which can be targets of cyberattacks. AI and machine learning techniques will be used for identifying and mapping the different possible security breaches, and then solutions to protect against these threats will be developed.
Dr. Ran Gozali said, "Cyber security is one of the biggest challenges in almost every aspect of modern-day life. This partnership will help support our advanced autonomous solutions, by working with prominent experts in the field, such as the researchers at Ben-Gurion University. We are certain that the collaboration will help maintain the qualitative edge and innovative solutions that are offered by Rafael to its customers."
Rafael has had vast experience in the cyber arena over the past 25 years. As a leader in the field, Rafael has implemented cyber defense projects around the world. In Israel, this includes the national Cyber Emergency Response Team (CERT), considered one of the world's most advanced, and the cyber defense system for Israel National Central Credit Registry and Israel's Railways Authority. Rafael has also been awarded a cyber defense contract by the Ministry of Defense of Argentina.
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