BGU | PRESIDENT'S REPORT 2023

Prof. DAN BLUMBERG VICE PRESIDENT FOR REGIONAL AND INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT

The Office of the Vice President for Regional and Industrial Development is charged with advancing and securing BGU’s strategic role at the heart of the flourishing technological, scientific, and social ecosystem in Beer-Sheva and the Negev. The Office is also responsible for multi-sector collaborations that advance the University, the city of Beer-Sheva and the Negev. In 2022, the Office focused on three primary goals: charting a plan for the Beer-Sheva Innovation District; promoting further cooperation with Israel Defense Force units moving south; and developing the regional ecosystem. Government resolution No. 625, which supports the Beer Sheva Innovation District, was passed on November 14, 2021. To promote the growth of this district, the Regional and Industrial Development Office is hosting bi-monthly meetings with core partners. These include the Beer Sheva Municipality and Soroka University Medical Center. The goal is to hasten physical development plans, establish joint research programs and strengthen the ecosystem in general. Considerable progress has been made in all these areas. First, a team of architects is pursuing the subject of “placemaking” on Ben-Gurion Blvd. A separate team of architects is designing an innovation building that will be used by the innovation district administration and be available for use by the public, including entrepreneurs and startups.

BGU, together with its strategic partners and other relevant players, went on a fact-finding tour abroad with the support of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s Division for the Promotion of Personnel in Public Service and the National Economic Council of the Prime Minister’s Office with the aim of learning about innovation districts in the United States. the team learned much about the role of universities as an engine of growth. This year we responded to a number of significant calls to strengthen the city and the region in general: The first was an invitation from the Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) to apply for a sum of NIS 25 million to

Prof. Yuval Elovici, Col. Eran Niv, head of the IDF's Communications Branch, and Prof. Dan Blumberg at BGU's Cyber Security Research Center, headed by Elovici

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President's Report 2023