A master research collaboration agreement signed here yesterday between EADS Innovation Works Singapore and the Singapore Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) aims to build on a joint cryptography project completed in November 2007.

That work, involving the A*STAR Institute for Infocomm Research, yielded the design of two innovative cryptographic block ciphers for use in secure mobile communications and an in-depth analysis of homomorphic crypto-systems suitable for government electronic voting systems: the latter area of research relies on some esoteric-looking algebra, but the end result is a voting scheme where each voter casts exactly one ballot and the voting is anonymous.

Dr. Jean Botti, EADS chief technology officer, said the local Innovation Works is part of a network that also involves sites in France, Germany, the UK and Russia. “We have the expectation of concrete results because of the expertise available here,” he said.

A*STAR managing director Ms. Yena Lim said the agency’s aerospace R&D capabilities underpin a larger program to grow Singapore’s own aerospace industry, often focusing on pre-competitive research with local and global companies. “At the same time, we are happy to be a partner with individual aerospace companies for their competitive R&D projects,” Lim said. “EADS can count on strong support from A*STAR for its R&D activities in Singapore.”