When two researchers from the lab presented their work focusing on business applications of social networks, the president smiled and said "You mean something like Facebook made in Israel"... At the meeting IBM presented the simultaneous Arabic translator
In the photo: IBM Israel CEO Meir Nissenson reviews IBM's activities in its 58 years in Israel before the country's president, before the country's president Shimon Peres during his visit to IBM's research laboratory in Haifa.
President Shimon Peres and Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav visited IBM's research laboratory in Haifa yesterday (Tuesday), and received a comprehensive overview of a series of future technologies being developed by IBM's researchers and development personnel in a wide variety of fields.
The tour opens with a view from the sixth floor of the laboratories, which are located in the Haifa University complex on the Carmel Ridge - with the entire coastal plain spread out at their feet, from Hadera to Rosh Hankara and a meeting with a number of employees.
At the meeting, President Shimon Peres demonstrated proficiency in the Internet field: when two researchers from the lab presented their work focusing on business applications of social networks, the President smiled and said "You mean something like Facebook made in Israel"...
Aya Sofer, one of the senior managers at the IBM laboratory in Haifa, greeted President Peres and introduced the CEO of IBM Israel, Meir Nissenson. Even though Sofer herself only speaks Hebrew and English - the process of this presentation was conducted in fluent Arabic: IBM's MASTOR speech translation system, which was demonstrated on this occasion, immediately translated every spoken English sentence that Sofer heard - into fluent Arabic. This technology is currently being used by the US Army in Iraq - and at the same time it is gaining momentum as a tool for breaking down intercultural barriers in other parts of the world.
The CEO of IBM Israel, Meir Nissenson, reviewed before the president the company's activities in its 58 years in the State of Israel - and the achievements of its research division, which employs over 400 researchers in Israel. IBM's research laboratories in Israel are the largest in the world outside of the USA. In total, IBM worldwide employs about 3,000 researchers in its research division.
The President was particularly interested in IBM's future technological vision - which was presented by Meir Nissenson - of a company that operates in global cooperation with technological and business partners, that adopts new technologies and strives to influence and shape the lives of its customers in particular - and the social fabric in general. "IBM focuses more and more on services, in a way that requires an in-depth look at the business challenges and the use of advanced technology in order to bring innovative solutions to these problems," noted the CEO of IBM Israel.
Boaz Carmeli, who leads research in the fields of health at the IBM research laboratory in Haifa, presented to the President a unique system developed by IBM researchers in the laboratories in Haifa and Alamden in the USA, which is intended for the monitoring and treatment of epidemics - and enables the sharing of information in real time and cooperation between health authorities from different countries.
President Shimon Peres, while witnessing a demonstration of the system for monitoring and predicting the spread of epidemics held for him in the IBM laboratory, noted the need for collaborations that would enable the strengthening and establishment of Israeli technologies and research in the fields of health.
On this occasion, the President emphasized the potential for improving the treatment of diseases such as diabetes and obesity, which are troubling the Western world - based on the new technological developments.
A first chance to drive what may be the car of the future, the president was rewarded when he sat in front of the wheel of a simulator featuring cooperative driving. This is a research project towards the development of a transportation environment that will allow cars to "talk" with each other as well as with the road infrastructure and traffic lights - all in order to simplify driving, prevent accidents and enable fuel economy and reduce air pollution.
The researcher Dan Habion explained to President Shimon Peres that such a "smart car" can be aware of the movement of other cars, obstacles on the road or environmental conditions and assist the driver in recommending the most correct action in any situation as well as route the cars at intersections in a way that allows for a smooth flow.
Immediately afterwards, Dan Habion invited the president to experience such a driving experience on the computer screen and the president sat down at the wheel and... "set off".
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The speaker on the right appears to be a genetic duplicate of the one sitting on the left