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Michigan Governor Rick Snyder Visits BGU

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder Visits BGU

January 31, 2017

Leadership, Awards & Events

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder recently visited BGU’s Marcus Family Campus, telling University President Prof. Rivka Carmi he hopes to continue forging a connection between Israel and the state of Michigan.

The governor’s visit follows the culmination of a three-year partnership on renewable energy between the University of Michigan and BGU that ended last year.

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and BGU President Prof. Rivka Carmi with the Advanced Technologies Park in the background.

Governor Snyder and his group were updated on BGU’s activities in the field of high-tech, with an emphasis on cyber and information security.

In addition, Prof. Carmi, along with Vice President and Dean of Research and Development Prof. Dan Blumberg, discussed the development of Beer-Sheva’s Advanced Technologies Park, as well as University plans for the coming years.

While in Israel, the governor attended the CyberTech 2017 conference in Tel Aviv, one of the world’s largest cyber events that is produced in partnership with BGU. The governor joined senior Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at the conference.

“Israel is a leader in cyber security, a world leader,” Governor Snyder said at CyberTech. “The real issue is how we can learn from that.”

To the governor, tackling cyber security issues requires collaborative efforts in prevention, detection and response, as well as increasing education among members of the public on potential threats.

“The attack has already happened,” Snyder said. “It simply hasn’t been activated. We’ve already been hit but we don’t know it yet. You need to be prepared for the fact that it may be too late.”

In Michigan, the state has created a Civilian Cyber Core, recruiting volunteers from relevant companies to respond to cyber security emergencies, Snyder explained.

“It’s the humans that are going to make the difference. I ask you to go out of here today and find two people who don’t get it, and help them get it. The cyber world is absolutely incredible, but cyber security has to be mentioned every time you do cyber tech.”