History of IBM research in Israel
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Research and development |
| Founded | 1972 |
| Headquarters | Haifa , Israel |
Area served | Israel, international |
Key people | Joshua Maor (former leader), Dr. Jim McGroddy (renamer) |
| Products | Research in healthcare, cloud technologies, formal verification, image and video analytics, storage solutions, verification software |
Number of employees | Over 250 (in 1990s) |
| Parent | IBM |
The inception of IBM research activities in Israel dates back to 1972 with the launch of the IBM Haifa Research Lab. Situated on the grounds of the University of Haifa, and maintaining additional offices in both Haifa and Tel Aviv, this facility concentrates on advancing initiatives in healthcare, cloud technologies, formal verification, as well as image and video analytics.
Overview
Within the IBM Haifa Research Lab, a quarter of the technical workforce holds doctoral qualifications in disciplines such as computer science, electrical engineering, mathematics, or closely related areas. Staff members actively engage with Israeli academic institutions like the Technion, contributing through teaching roles and mentoring graduate research projects. Numerous employees have been recognized with IBM accolades for outstanding performance.
The laboratory strikes a balance between immediate applied research and visionary industrial innovation. It plays a crucial role in supporting IBM’s product development efforts while fostering strong collaborations with academia, targeting both current industry demands and future IT advancements.
Since its establishment in 1972, IBM Haifa has tailored its research agenda to align with IBM’s international objectives alongside the specific requirements of Israel’s industries—covering domains from medical diagnostic tools and irrigation management to crew scheduling for El Al and Hebrew speech recognition technologies. Its contributions extend into emerging fields such as IBM’s eLiza autonomous systems, iSCSI protocols utilized in IBM TotalStorage IP Storage 200i, InfiniBand networking standards, Enterprise Storage Solutions, and advanced information retrieval systems. The verification software created here supports testing procedures across IBM laboratories worldwide for both software and hardware components.
Beginnings
During the period from 1971 to 1973, Dr. Alfred Inselberg of the IBM Los Angeles Scientific Center took a sabbatical at Technion’s Applied Mathematics department. In 1972, Shimon Yagil initiated discussions with Inselberg about expanding IBM’s footprint within Israel. Following a series of presentations and a proposal backed by David Cohen—the then general manager of IBM Israel—IBM World Trade sanctioned the creation of a Scientific Center in Israel.
Although Prof. Phillip Rabinowich recommended situating the center at the Weizmann Institute, the final decision placed it at Technion to facilitate involvement of undergraduate and graduate students in IBM’s scientific endeavors.
This effort was driven by David Cohen together with Prof. Josef Raviv, an Israeli computer scientist affiliated with the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center. Raviv had spent a sabbatical year in Israel during 1971 collaborating closely with Cohen to persuade IBM leadership to establish a center patterned after existing Scientific Centers in the United States and Europe. These centers functioned as non-profit entities aimed at progressing computer science research and applying technological solutions to regional challenges.
At that time, Israel’s high-tech industry was still emerging beyond its military applications, and computing was just beginning to gain academic traction. The IBM Israel Scientific Center officially opened in 1972 within Technion’s Computer Science Building under Raviv’s management, staffed initially by three researchers and one programmer.
Early collaborative projects
Leveraging Technion’s computational resources, the Center embarked on projects spanning medicine, agriculture, economics, computer science, and applied mathematics. Early efforts involved partnerships with Israeli public institutions and academic research groups. Scientific Center personnel collaborated alongside these partners on various initiatives, publishing their findings openly according to IBM policies. This strategy enabled concentration on projects with meaningful impact without immediate financial return expectations but sometimes caused frustration among researchers due to limited practical application outcomes.
International Joint Ventures
During the late 1970s, Raviv aimed to broaden the Center's scope by launching collaborative research projects with European scientific institutions. A prominent partnership with the Madrid Center focused on farm management, through which the Haifa team acquired their inaugural computer—a portable IBM 5110—to apply irrigation algorithms across kibbutzim.
Among the key endeavors was the creation of an ultrasound system for early detection of liver cancer, developed in cooperation with IBM Austria and Israel's Sheba Hospital. The Haifa team’s expertise in signal processing was instrumental in advancing this pioneering technology. Another major project involved a computer-aided medical diagnosis system spearheaded by Bezalel Gavish, utilizing artificial intelligence techniques to address endocrinology and infertility. This initiative, conducted alongside Sheba Medical Center and later trialed in Dutch hospitals, eventually extended its application to other medical domains such as congenital anomalies and cardiology.
These international collaborations positioned the Scientific Center as a central hub for engineering and scientific computing research within IBM's European framework, facilitating growth from fifteen to twenty-two employees. To accommodate this expansion, the Center moved in 1982 to more spacious quarters at Technion’s Andre and Bella Meyer Advanced Technology Center.
Establishment of Haifa Research Group
Raviv investigated opportunities to grow the Center by subcontracting projects to IBM Research facilities in the United States, proposing collaboration based on specific project expertise. This forward-thinking approach received endorsement from Dr Ralph Gomory, Director of IBM Research, who founded the Haifa Research Group (HRG) in 1982. Initially undertaking two projects—vendor chip testing and DAIOS (DASD I/O simulations)—the HRG quickly expanded, laying the groundwork for what would become the Haifa Research Lab's Verification Technologies and Storage System Technologies divisions, as well as the Haifa Microelectronics Development Lab.
In 1983, the Scientific Center merged with HRG under IBM Israel’s Science and Technology Division, officially becoming a legal subsidiary in 1989 under Joshua Maor’s leadership. Significant projects throughout the 1980s included Hebrew computational linguistics (notably text-to-speech systems for the visually impaired), optimization of water distribution, educational technologies, portrait image compression, signal processing for hearing disabilities, document recognition, text parsing, data compression techniques, and tools for VLSI design verification.
IBM’s Role as a Solutions Provider
By the late 1980s, as computing technology became more widespread and IBM phased out its Scientific Centers, the Israeli facility shifted its focus toward delivering customer-oriented solutions for IBM Israel. In 1992, it was rebranded as IBM Israel’s Advanced Solutions Center.
Acknowledging its strategic importance, Dr Jim McGroddy renamed it the IBM Haifa Research Laboratory in 1993. It became one of only three IBM Research labs located outside the United States—the others being in Zurich and Tokyo—and employed over 250 professionals. To support ongoing expansion, HRL relocated to Building 8/1 within the MATAM Advanced Technology Center situated in southern Haifa.
Throughout the 1990s, HRL made substantial contributions to key IBM products including hardware and software development for RS/6000 workstations, implementation of mathematical functions for IBM systems, continuous data backup solutions, and design verification technologies. It grew to become IBM’s largest research laboratory beyond US borders.
In 1999, Raviv stepped down as HRL director and began planning an IBM development center in Israel. Tragically, shortly thereafter he and his wife Joanna were killed in a car accident. The planned development center ultimately materialized as the Israel Systems and Technology Group (STG) Lab, focusing on storage technologies, high-speed networking and circuits, software/hardware integration, and VLSI physical design.
Collaboration with Academia
Marking its 30th anniversary, the IBM Haifa Research Lab moved its operations to the campus of the University of Haifa, positioning itself strategically close to prominent academic collaborators. Researchers from the Lab are involved in teaching and mentoring initiatives at the Technion, University of Haifa, and Tel Aviv University. Additionally, team members participate in joint research endeavors with institutions like Purdue University, Bar-Ilan University, and the University of Maryland, thereby enhancing IBM's innovation ecosystem throughout Israel, the United States, and Europe.
The Lab is distinguished by having one of the largest concentrations of PhD holders within Israel's high-tech industry, with expertise spanning science, electrical engineering, and mathematics. Its scientists regularly present at global conferences and contribute to scholarly journals, underscoring IBM's prominence in research and development.
As an integral part of the IBM R&D Labs in Israel network, the IBM Haifa Research Lab plays a vital role in advancing innovation.