Push for joint Israeli-European R&ampD projects in telecoms - Eurescom-MATIMOP cooperation agreement

On 10 August, Eurescom and MATIMOP signed a cooperation agreement to facilitate the participation of Israeli companies in European R&D programmes.

Eurescom, the European network operators' organisation for innovation in telecoms, and MATIMOP, the Israeli Industry Center for R&D, on 10 August signed an agreement for close R&D cooperation in telecommunications.
MATIMOP and Eurescom agreed to cooperate on the creation and promotion of projects that address the common interests of both organisations. The cooperation includes mutual information on private and public R&D programmes and specific projects in Israel and Europe as well as facilitating the participation of Israeli companies in European projects.
As the national liaison organisation in Israel, MATIMOP has the responsibility for implementing international R&D cooperation frameworks on behalf of the Office of the Chief Scientists in the Ministry of Industry Trade and Labour and promoting the participation of Israeli companies in collaborative R&D programmes and other international initiatives.
Eurescom, the collaborative research organisation of the major European telecoms network operators, has the objective to create and populate relevant and competent collaborative projects in the context of EU framework programmes, EUREKA programmes and private R&D programmes for the Eurescom member community. Eurescom has stimulated, initiated, managed and published the results of over 500 projects within various international programmes.
This agreement follows a successful cooperation between both organisations during the implementation of CELTIC, the Eureka cluster programme for collaborative R&D in telecommunications. CELTIC was initiated last year by the major European telecoms operators and vendors. Israeli high-tech companies have been taking a considerable role in this programme.
"Our goal is to achieve significant mutual project participation in our respective communities and exploit the potential of collaborating with the Israeli hi-tech companies" said David Kennedy, Senior Programme Manager at Eurescom. "The agreement will create important opportunities for collaboration. It will increase and strengthen the cooperation between Israeli and European ,companies," said Yair Amitay, General Director of MATIMOP.About Eurescom,Eurescom is the leading private organisation for collaborative R&D in European ,telecommunications. For its members, the European Union, and other customers, Eurescom performs multinational research projects on networks, services, applications, and further aspects of telecommunications. Major European telecommunication network operators founded Eurescom in 1991 as a platform for collaborative R&D in order to combine resources and create synergies. ,Among the members of Eurescom are Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom, and BT.,http://www.eurescom.de
About MATIMOP,MATIMOP, the Israeli Industry Center for R&D, coordinates industrial R&D cooperation between Israel and the international high-tech community. As a national liaison organisation, MATIMOP implements international R&D cooperation frameworks and promotes the participation of Israeli companies in collaborative programmes and other international initiatives.,MATIMOP serves as Israel's national contact point for the EC framework programme, EUREKA, and the Innovation Relay Centre (IRC). MATIMOP is also implementing several bi-national R&D cooperation agreements with American, European and Asian countries, including France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, China, India, Hong Kong and Taiwan.,http://www.matimop.org.il
Eurescom contact: ,Milon Gupta, PR Officer, Eurescom, phone: [phone]; fax: -209; ,e-mail: [e-mail], Schloss-Wolfsbrunnenweg 35, 69118 Heidelberg, Germany
MATIMOP contact:,Israel Shamay, Director, Industrial Cooperation Programs, MATIMOP, phone: EQ3-5118100, fax: EQ3-5177655, e-mail: [e-mail], 29 Hamered st., Tel-Aviv 61500, Israel