Microsoft's Ballmer opens second R&D site in Israel

by 
Amir Ben-Artzi 
May 22, 2008
EETimes
http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207801743  
  
NETANYA, Israel - Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has opened an 
R&D center in Hertzliya, Israel, that adds up to the company's 
existing R&D campus in Haifa. In the next 12 months, 150 workers 
will be added, bringing the headcount across the two sites to 750. 
The Hertzliya campus has two buildings with a total area of 13,000 
square meters. During the ceremony, Ballmer said the company 
intends to buy more companies in Israel and that he expects the 
importance of Israel to Microsoft to grow during the next years. 
"We are committed to continue the investment in Israel," he said. 

Microsoft Israel R&D is one of four regional development centers. 
The others are located in the U.S., India and China. The center is 
led by corporate vice president Moshe Lichtman and works on 
telecom, security, internet, online services and entertainment. 

Until 2006, Lichtman served as corporate vice president of the 
Microsoft TV division, where he was responsible for the development, 
marketing, sales and deployment of Microsoft's software solutions 
for the digital television industry. 

The Israel R&D center also serves as an anchor to the venture 
capital sector and the startup community, facilitating technology 
and business cooperation between the industry and Microsoft's 
product groups. In March 2008 Microsoft opened its only "innovation 
lab" outside the U.S., as a part of its Israeli R&D center. The labs 
combine academic research and commercially oriented R&D, 
aimed at 3 to 5 years ahead, with the mandate to develop 
technologies in the areas of online search, advertising and smart 
navigation, alongside entertainment services and technologies in 
emerging sectors.