Arkansas Online

Groups join in creating cyber innovation consortium

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and Forge Institute have collaborated to establish the Consortium for Cyber Innovation.

The purpose is to develop and align cyber education and growing applied research capabilities in Arkansas, according to the Wednesday announcement.

“The Consortium for Cyber Innovation is monumental to developing our high-tech workforce and developing new capabilities to prevent, detect and mitigate emerging technology risks to businesses, including our nation’s critical infrastructure,” said Lee Watson, chief executive officer of the Forge Institute.

“Both campuses already have outstanding undergraduate and graduate computer science programs, cybersecurity resources, and worldclass faculty. We’re excited to lend our expertise to this very important endeavor which will help fill the coming 3.4 million job gap,” Watson said in the news release.

Monsour Mortazavi, vice chancellor for research, innovation and economic development at UAPB, reiterated the importance of the project in the region.

“Developing the computer science and cybersecurity workforce in the Arkansas Delta is a priority for us. The CCI helps us accomplish this objective by collaborating with excellent partners within the cyber community,” Mortazavi said.

Forge Institute in Little Rock develops capabilities to solve broad challenges in emerging technology, cybersecurity and national security. Its experienced cyber operators and leadership team have decades of expertise in corporate and national security cyber defensive operations. They are leveraging their extensive national network to promote workforce training and research collaborations.

By joining forces with the academic resources of UALR and UAPB and industry partners like Acxiom, the Consortium for Cyber Innovation creates a strategic industry cluster in emerging technologies that will support national defense and enhance Arkansas as a cyber defense state, according to the release.

“We’re extremely excited to build this collaboration with Forge Institute,” said Brian Berry, vice provost for research and dean of the Graduate School at UALR. “We view cybersecurity as an important field of study for our students, and the expertise Forge Institute lends offers a real-world perspective that can’t be simulated in the classroom.”

This collaboration expands an existing collaboration with UALR. For example, students who complete the Forge Institute’s IT/Cyber Fundamentals professional development course can apply to receive three hours of academic credit in UALR’s recently launched bachelor’s degree program in cybersecurity, according to the release.

The Consortium for Cyber Innovation builds on existing partnerships among the Forge Institute, UALR, and the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, that have already resulted in National Security Agency-funded academic training and research programs.

This includes the GenCyber summer camp for 7th through-12th-graders and the Healthcare Cybersecurity Certification research project.

Further, the Consortium for Cyber Innovation leverages numerous other United States government partnerships, including the U.S. Department of Energy to develop cybersecurity solutions for critical infrastructure in the electric sector, according to the release.

An immediate goal of the Consortium for Cyber Innovation is to create a powerhouse Strategic Initiative Office with the goal of sourcing funded grant resources for building applied learning and research experiences for students, and faculty and industry personnel; developing new innovation opportunities; and facilitating technology transfer capabilities at the speed of business. The Strategic Initiative Office will allow the consortium to obtain and manage large-scale federal funding for creating a sustainable network of education and research efforts in emerging technology and national defense.

Future research projects will include developing next-generation artificial intelligence capabilities to manage cybersecurity threats to critical infrastructure, and military and national defense networks. Advanced machine learning technologies will increase efficiency and expand near-term industry use of readily available quantum computing capabilities.

Opinion

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2021-12-02T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-12-02T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://edition.arkansasonline.com/article/282651805768606

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