Amdocs Ltd. (NYSE: DOX) and AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) inaugurated their permanent Israeli innovation center on Tuesday. The center will enable Israeli start-ups and developers to work with AT&T, Amdocs's biggest customer.
Amdocs VP innovation and digital services Gil Rosen and AT&T executive Yigal Elbaz will manage the AT&T Foundry innovation center, located at Amdocs's premises in Ra'anana, in rooms formerly used as the company gym.
AT&T Foundry has a second innovation center hosted by Alcatel-Lucent SA (NYSE; Euronext: ALU) in Plano, Texas, and it will set up a third, hosted by Ericsson AB (NYSE; SAX: ERIC) in Palo Alto, in Silicon Valley later this year.
Rosen told "Globes" that hundreds of Israeli companies have contacted the innovation center in recent months. "A communications vendor usually needs something, and it looks for equipment providers," he said. "We're leaving the usual model to create partnerships between the communications vendor and the start-up. We know what AT&T is seeking and we can show it things it never thought of before."
Although a software company, Amdocs has extensive operations at its premises that go beyond its usual fields. It also works with semiconductor companies and manufacturers of devices. Rosen says that the center sometimes provides start-ups with seed money to begin operations. "We're not an investment firm, but we invest in project," he says.
AT&T AVP security R&D Sanjay Macwan talked about the areas of interest by innovation center. "Everything related to the streamlining of network infrastructures, as well as health, such as storage of tests," he said, adding that the innovation center works with start-ups in all operational stages.
Elbaz added that cloud computing and mobile network evolution were also fields of interest.
Two start-ups working at the center are SundaySky Ltd., which is developing an automated video solution for information, such as accounts, and Ringbow Ltd., which has developed a peripheral device for touch screens.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 16, 2011
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