Less than two weeks after launching its official operation in Israel, search engine giant Google announced plans to open a new research and development facility in the northern Israeli city of Haifa–its first R&D center in the Middle East, the company announced in a statement.
The R&D center will open during the second quarter of 2006, the statement said.
Israel’s highly skilled engineering base makes it the ideal place to establish an R&D center, said Alan Eustace, Vice President of Engineering at Google. By using the best engineering talent available, Google ensures that users can find the most relevant information, and communicate it to their family, friends and colleagues.
"As a country renowned for its thriving economy and passion for new technologies, Israel is home to many outstanding computer scientists and engineers and Google is looking to establish long partnerships with institutes and universities," the statement said.
Google also said it was looking at other locations in Israel for future engineering centers and that it was looking to establish partnerships with institutes and universities in the country.
The company’s co-founder Sergey Brin started hinted at an Israeli R&D center in late January.
Google formally announced its arrival in Israel Feb. 20 with the opening of an office headed by Meir Brand, but the search engine has been available in Hebrew for several years.
Brand has so far kept mum on the company’s plans for Israel, except to say the company plans to tailor its Hebrew service more to the Israeli surfer, who according to the company is more educated, tech-savvy and search-engine dependent than his U.S. counterparts.
To spearhead the project, the new R&D center will be headed by Dr. Yoelle Maarek, who previously served as the senior manager of the Information and Media Technologies department at IBM’s Haifa Research Labs.
Maarek has 17 years of experience under her belt at IBM, where she was responsible for information management in the labs.
She also had a hand in developing the Juru search engine, which was developed entirely in the Haifa lab and later won a prize for precision, the Hebrew news Web site Ynet said.
I am delighted that Yoelle is joining Google, said Eustace, via the company statement.
Her appointment demonstrates our commitment to product research and development, enhancing our international business operations in the Middle East and beyond. Israel’s highly skilled engineering base makes it the ideal place to establish an R&D center he said.
Google did not say how much it was investing to establish the center or how many people it expected to hire.
A spokesman for the company confirmed, however, that it was actively looking for new employees. There are currently six positions posted on its recruitment website www.google.co.il/jobs.
Google launched its Hebrew version approximately four years ago and officially opened its Tel Aviv office last month, expanding its portfolio of search products available to the Hebrew speaking private and business consumer.
The Google R&D center will join several other international Internet and computer companies with branches in Israel. Chip maker Intel has had a presence in Israel for over 30 years and recently announced the opening of an information-technology center at the Islamic University of Gaza.
Microsoft also has an Israeli branch in the city of Ra’anana near Tel Aviv.
Google currently runs R&D facilities in Tokyo; Zurich, Switzerland; Bangalore, India; New York; Kirkland, Wash.; Santa Monica, Calif.; and Mountain View, Calif.