JERUSALEM, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Hessian Israeli Partnership Accelerator for Cybersecurity (HIPA), the first German-Israeli accelerator of such kind, was launched in Hebrew University of Jerusalem on Thursday.
The accelerator will bring together top talents in cybersecurity from Israel and Germany to jointly work on cybersecurity projects in areas such as network technologies, internet infrastructure and software security.
HIPA connects the participants with entrepreneurs, researchers, mentors, customers and influencers and the launching of the accelerator would bring win-win benefits for all participants, said professor Danny Dolev, head of Hebrew University's Cybersecurity Innovation Center, at the launching ceremony.
To jointly launch the accelerator in the cybersecurity sector by Germany and Israel will bring benefits for both sides, and for both enterprises and students of the two sides, said Boris Rhein, the Hessian State Minister for Higher Education, Research and the Arts.
It is learned that the overarching goal of launching the accelerator is to trigger the creation of innovation and businesses in cybersecurity in Israel and Germany, and the in-depth technical and business training provided is expected to give the start-ups emerging from HIPA exceptionally high chances of succeeding in the market.
It is very important to fight against cyber attack and to launch the accelerator is a major step to help create better cyber space for society, said Yigal Unna, head of Cybersecurity Technology Unit, Israeli National Cybersecurity Directorate.
The accelerator program begins with two week of in-depth entrepreneurship and cybersecurity training both in Israel and Germany, followed by two months of targeted research and development activities, said Dr. Haya Shulman, division director at Fraunhofer SIT and Managing Director of the accelerator.
The results will be reviewed and finalized in one week of technology training in the digital city of Darmstadt, Germany, and presented in team pitches at a conference in Berlin, Germany, in January 2018.
Now the first batch of 16 participants from both Israel and Germany have joined in the accelerator program.
HIPA is organized by the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology SIT in Darmstadt, Germany, and the Cyber Security Research Center at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's School of Computer Science and Engineering.
This partnership connects one of Europe's leading cybersecurity research centers with Israel's vibrant start-up scene to develop a new generation of cybersecurity researchers and to foster collaboration between Germany and Israel.
Fraunhofer SIT is the leading institute for applied cybersecurity research in Germany and one of the oldest research institutions for IT security in the world. In 2015, the Hebrew University and Fraunhofer SIT initiated the Fraunhofer Project Center for Cybersecurity in Jerusalem. The joint Project Center is part of the Hebrew University's Cybersecurity Innovation Center, a leading institute for applied cybersecurity in Israel.
Almost half of the researchers at the Hebrew University's School of Computer Science and Engineering are currently involved in various aspects of cybersecurity research. Israeli scientists in general, and researchers from the Hebrew University in particular, have always played a major role in securing the Internet and ensuring its robustness.
