Orna Berry (Hebrew:ארנה ברי; born December 19, 1949), is an Israeli computer scientist,high-tech entrepreneur, and senior executive in the Israeli science and technology industries.[1] In 1996, Berry became the first woman to serve as chief scientist and head of the industrialR&D operation of theIsraeli Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labour.[2] She was awarded the "Yekirat Hanegev" award fromBen-Gurion University of the Negev in 2012.[3]
Since 2021 Berry serves as Director of Technology in the office of the CTO at Google Cloud.[4][5]
Orna Berry was born inJerusalem to Raissa andYoash Tsiddon (Chatto) and was raised and educated inTel Aviv. In 1967, she drafted into theIsraeli Air Force, where she served as an officer for the flying school until 1970, terminating her military service as a lieutenant.[6]
Berry's academic research illustrated how distributed simulation programs could be accelerated via asynchronous distributed computations and was published in 1986.[11] Berry was diagnosed with dyslexia, something which she says influenced her decision to choose a career in science.[12]
After graduating, Berry began working atSystem Development Corporation, later Burroughs andUnisys. It was here that she began her work inLocal area networking (LAN). She decided to return to Israel in 1987 to work for theIBM Haifa Research Laboratory where she was involved with hardware simulations on differentIntel chip architectures. In 1989, she joined Fibronics and led projects relating to bridging Token Ring andFDDI LANs.[13]
In 1993, Berry co-founded Ornet Data Communication Technologies, which developed scalable and efficient Ethernet switches.[14]While fundraising for Ornet, Berry served as a technical manager of an industrial project atElbit Systems, and consulted for Intel. In September 1995, Ornet was acquired by Siemens.[15] This was the first acquisition of an Israeli start-up by a European conglomerate.[16]
In late 1996, Berry joined the government. She was officially nominated as the chief scientist and director of the IndustrialResearch and Development Administration in January 1997. She was the first, and as of 2019[update], is still the only woman to hold this post.[2]
While serving in this office, she was the chairperson of theBIRD Foundation[17] which helps foster relationships between US and Israeli companies focused on R&D. She negotiated the Israeli government's participation in the European Fifth Framework Program for R&D, and chaired ISERD, the governmental organization responsible for the country's participation in the program.[18] She also chaired the joint R&D funds with Canada, the UK, South Korea, and Singapore.[citation needed]
Berry took part in the Brodet Committee (2007)[19] and the Tishler Committee (2012)[20] (2012), which were both founded to examine theIsraeli defense budget and its management. Beginning in 2018, she led national science and technology initiatives in the quantum and artificial intelligence domains.[21][22][23]
After returning to the private sector, Berry joined Gemini Israel Ventures[24] as a venture partner, a role which she held from 2000 to 2010.[25] As part of this role, she chaired companies including: Lambda Crossing, which manufactured optical components;[26] Riverhead Networks, a DDoS mitigation company which was acquired by Cisco in March 2004;[27]PrimeSense, a sensor and 3D capturing technology company which was acquired by Apple in 2013;[28][29] and Radware, a communication company.[30] She also served as director of Poalim Capital Markets[31] and publicly traded companies includingAladdin Knowledge Systems,[32]Alvarion,[33] andCommtouch.[34]
In late 2006, Berry was elected chairperson of the Israeli Venture Capital Funds Association (IVA),[35] where she served for 3 years.[36] In 2008, she joined a project to invest in Israeli pre-seed startups.[37]
In 2010, Berry joinedEMC Corporation as vice president and general manager of the company's centers of excellence in Israel.[38] She was subsequently promoted to corporate vice president of innovation.[39] As part of her role at EMC, Berry led the foundation of the company's new R&D center inBeer Sheva,[40] where EMC became the first company to inhabit the Beer Sheva high tech park in July 2013.[41][42] Berry stayed with the company following theDell-EMC merger in 2016 until she stepped down from her role in 2018[43] to return to public service.
Berry returned to the private sector in October 2021 when she was appointed director of technology in the office of the CTO atGoogle Cloud.[4][5]
Berry's involvement in the academic, public and business sectors are intertwined with volunteer activities which are based on her stated goal to harness information technology (IT) for empowering knowledge and other research areas, and to create social progress and economic growth among the local Israeli community and theinternational community in theU.S. and Europe.[citation needed]
Among her voluntary activities, Berry served as a member of the board of directors of the Kav Mashve Association,[44] a non-profit organization for promoting Arab Academics employment based on their academic background and skills, a member of the board of directors of BG Negev Technologies, a member of the patents and intellectual property policy committees at theBen Gurion University of theNegev,[45] and she still serves as member of the executive committee ofBen Gurion University[46] and board member ofRamot, the technology transfer company of Tel Aviv University,[47] andTAU Ventures.[48]
Berry was a member of the WIR (Women in Industrial Research) expert group which presented findings to TheEuropean Commission.[49] She was also a member of the EURAB Research Council,[50] where she replaced ProfessorRuth Arnon as a member and contributed to studies on the expansion of competitiveness and growth as a result of extending the use of science and technology among other topics.
Since 2000, Berry has volunteered to promote education,employment equality,social inclusion and welfare in Israel and around the world, along with promoting Israel's position in the world.[citation needed]
From 2010 to 2017, she served as the chair of the executive committee of the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yafo,[53] where she also served on the board of trustees.[54]
Berry's mother, Raisa Shrira, was a nurse who served in thePalmach[72] and the camps inCyprus during the British administration in Israel, as well as in theSheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer and the public orthodox health care services in Bnei Brak after the establishment of the state of Israel.
Her father, Yoash Tsiddon (Chatto), was involved inHa'apala activities of illegal Jewish immigration fromEurope andCyprus detention camps (where he headed one of the camps)[73] toIsrael and as a member of thePalmach, he accompanied convoys toJerusalem during the 19481947–1949 Palestine war. Tsiddon was amongst the first combat pilots of theIsraeli Air Force, where he founded the119 Squadron, was the sole pilot inOperation Tarnegol,[74][75][76] served as an air force base deputy commander, and became the head of planning and means of combat in the air force before being demobilized as acolonel after 41 years of service. As an entrepreneur and industrialist, Tsiddon won the title of "Outstanding Exporter" and later on was elected to theKnesset as a member ofTzomet party.[77]
Her brothers are Professor Daniel (Dani) Tsiddon, former deputy CEO and head of Capital Markets, Private Banking & Strategy Division atBank Leumi,[78] and attorney Ram Tsiddon.[79][80] Berry, who currently lives inTel Aviv is the mother of three children (Amit, Yael, and Avital) and the grandmother of four grandchildren.[45]
