The launching of the Smart Mobility Analysis and Research Test Range (SMART Range) was announced jointly by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, CYMOTIVE Technologies, HARMAN – a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. – Deutsche Telekom Innovation Laboratories and JVP at the Cyber Security Workshop for Future Smart Mobility in cooperation with Israel’s National Cyber Bureau at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. The SMART Range is a unique project that will serve as an international centre for smart mobility in the capital city of Israel’s Negev – Be’er-Sheva.
The SMART Range will fulfil the vision of an automotive development ‘playground’ in a smart-city environment, hosting academic research, an innovation hub, an institute for testing and certification in the cyber arena, and a standards development body for smart mobility.
The SMART Range will function as a living lab within a smart-city environment encompassing all aspects of future mobility systems, including public transportation, private vehicles, and personal mobility devices. The environment will simulate a complex reality and enable effective testing of advanced technologies, assessment of human-machine-environment interfaces, evaluation of transport solutions in a future networked reality, and operability and robustness testing of software and hardware systems against cyber threats.
The range will feature the unique ability to combine the highest-level practical knowledge possessed by leading commercial firms together with advanced academic research. This cooperation between commercial and academic stakeholders will enable the centre to further its main objectives:
- Promotion of innovation in the smart mobility arena
- Advancement of global regulation in the field of cybersecurity for smart mobility systems
- Cybersecurity certification for smart mobility software and hardware systems
- Global leadership in the definition, assessment, and verification of the resilience of smart mobility systems to cyber threats
- Consolidation of Israel’s position as a world leader in smart mobility
Prof. Rivka Carmi, President, Ben-Gurion University: “The SMART Range represents a natural stride forward in light of the University’s broad and diverse research activities in the fields of technology, autonomous robotics, Information Technology, and cybersecurity, while fulfilling the University’s role as a leader in developing innovation and excellence in Be’er-Sheva.”
Roni Zehavi, CEO, CyberSpark: “The range will address the ever-growing global need for a testing and evaluation infrastructure of smart mobility solutions’ resiliency to continually-escalating cyber threats, as well as the need for a recognised international body for certification as a pre-condition for the integration of solutions into the smart city environment.”
Netta Cohen, CEO, BGN Technologies (the technology company of Ben-Gurion University): “The range is attracting great interest within the global industry. We are working in full coordination with the relevant government and local industry parties, and are moving quickly to create a powerful and comprehensive research centre with strong ties to business, government, and the city of Be’er-Sheva. We expect the formal association of the founding partners to be completed by the end of the year, with the range already starting to operate at the beginning of next year.”
Saar Dickman, Vice President, Automotive Cyber Security Business Unit at HARMAN: “This joint venture to establish an international centre in the Negev for the research and evaluation of automotive cyber threats expresses Samsung-HARMAN’s commitment to global innovation, while recognising the advantages and knowledge resources of the human capital in Israel in general, and in the Negev in particular.”
Yuval Diskin, Executive Chairman, CYMOTIVE Technologies: “CYMOTIVE Technologies, a company partially owned by Volkswagen Group, sees the establishment of the SMART Range in Be’er-Sheva as a significant opportunity to advance smart mobility technologies and make them better and safer to use. To this end, the range will incorporate the vast existing knowledge within these industries in Israel, together with advanced academic research.”
Yoav Tzruya, JVP Partner: “In a rapidly changing world where the automotive industry is at the forefront of global technology, the need to focus on cyber security solutions, as well as seizing opportunities by leveraging AI and deep learning as the new frontier. Israeli innovation has proven its global leadership in these two categories. The partnership between the leading players in the cyber industry and data sciences as part of the new research and testing centre in Be’er-Sheva adds significant value for the rapidly developing automotive industry.”
Yigal Unna, Director of New Cyber Technologies Unit, National Cyber Bureau, praised the announcement: “Protecting the smart transportation domain, with all its inherent opportunities, is essential to fulfil its vast potential. Since the government of Israel declared Be’er-Sheva the “National Cyber City” a long time ago, I consider SMART Range yet another promising initiative generated by its highly vibrant and innovative cyber ecosystem. I am confident of its contribution to the growth of the Smart Mobility arena in general and Israeli global cyber leadership in particular.”
