The Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the Technion signed a collaboration agreement with the research division of IBM to advance the abilities and expand the uses of AI. The collaboration was announced during a convention that IBM held in Tel Aviv in honor of the 50th anniversary of IBM’s first research laboratory in Israel.
Artificial Intelligence influences our everyday lives and is a central growth engine in the industry. The ever-growing amounts of data create a need for companies to develop advanced technological abilities to be able to deploy AI on a large scale – a challenge that necessitates high investment in research and development. In light of the severe shortage in Israel of graduates of advanced degrees in computer science, and the growing need of academia in funding and import of skills from the industry, the research division of IBM has launched a collaboration with Hebrew University and the Technion.
As part of the collaboration, spread over the next 3 years, research will be conducted to find new methods in 3 main areas of AI: natural language processing, acceleration of pharmaceutical research, and multi-cloud computing that will support distributed AI calculations. IBM will invest millions of shekels into the research, which will be carried out by PhD students at the Hebrew University and the Technion.
Prof. Asher Cohen, President of the Hebrew University, said that “The combination of a leading tech company like IBM with our exemplary researchers is a merger that gives the optimal response to the information and computation revolution. With the ever-growing demand for computational doctors who specialize in algorithmics, computational learning and computer science, the connection with IBM at the earlier stages of research will bring extraordinary breakthroughs in science and medicine.”
Prof. Kobi Rubinstein, the Technion’s VP for Research, said: “The Technion has a close and warm relationship with the IBM research laboratories, and has since they were established. During the last few years there has been widespread activity related to AI in the Technion. The collaboration with IBM, which will be led by the best researchers in the field, will be a force multiplier to research and development in the area. We welcome the research collaboration that will greatly benefit the 2 organizations.”
Dr. Aya Sofer, the lab manager in Israel and Global VP for AI in the research division at IBM, also welcomed the collaboration: “The Israeli hi-tech industry received today a significant boost to its continuing success. The collaboration with Hebrew University and the Technion will bring about new and learned talents, who will execute groundbreaking research that will advance AI and help improve our lives. I am proud of the global research division of IBM for deciding to invest in this important step, which we initiated.”
