Maryland lands major cybersecurity center

Research, training center expected to boost private industry, move the state closer to becoming national hub for cybersecurity

By Bob Keefe | July 27, 2010

Maryland officials on Monday announced plans for a huge cybersecurity training and evaluation center that could take the state one step closer toward its goal of becoming a national center for cybersecurity.

U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski and Gov. Martin O'Malley announced plans to create what they're calling the National Cybersecurity Center for Excellence. The center will be tasked with researching cybersecurity threats, training cybersecurity workers and helping bridging gaps between federal and private cybersecurity efforts.

A total of $10 million in federal funding has been set aside to start the center, according to Mikulski, chairwoman of a Senate appropriations committee that authorized the federal spending.

MARYLAND: STATE OF CYBERSECURITY? State and federal officials on Monday announced several major grants aimed at building Maryland's already sizable cybersecurity industry. A closer look at the state of the technology, cybersecurity business in Maryland: PRIVATE INDUSTRY: More than 9,000 private technology companies already employ more than 126,000 people. Nearly 10 percent of all jobs in Maryland are related to technology. Major employers: Lockeed Martin, Computer Sciences Corp., CACI, SAIC. GOVERNMENT: Agencies such as NIST, the NSA, Fort Meade employ thousands of cybersecurity workers and are responsible for nation's cybersecurity needs as well as R&D and training. THE FUTURE: The new $10 million National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence announced Monday is designed to help bridge gaps between private and government cybersecurity and also focus on cybersecurity research and training. A $5 million Department of Labor grant will train 1,000 cybersecurity workers over the next three years at Maryland's community colleges. And a $15 million allocation to Gaithersburg-based NIST is earmarked for research on emerging cybersecurity risks.

Mikulski's Senate Commerce Justice and Science appropriations committee also has authorized another $15 million for the Gaithersburg, Md.-based National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST) to conduct research on emerging cybersecurity threats.

Officials did not say where in Maryland the cybersecurity center will be built, although given its close connections to NIST - the agency has been tapped to oversee its creation - Gaithersburg could be high on the list.

Officials say they expect the planned national cybersecurity center to provide a major boost to many private technology businesses in the region. It also is a big step toward O'Malley's goal of making his state the Silicon Valley of cybersecurity.

In January, O'Malley launched an economic development program called CyberMaryland that maps out how the state plans to increase the size of its cybersecurity work force by leveraging current cybersecurity expertise at its universities, businesses and government agencies.

"This center will … (bring) together the critical cyber security assets in one place, using 21st Century technology to battle 21st Century attacks," O'Malley said in a statement. "This investment helps foster the skills needed for the jobs of today's innovative economy."

Together with the Monday's announcement, O'Malley, Mikulski and other Maryland officials also announced a new program designed to train 1,000 Marylanders in cybersecurity technology.

The Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corp., in cooperation with community colleges throughout Maryland and a dozen industry and government partners, was awarded nearly $5 million, three-year grant from the Department of Labor to create the new training program.

"This is about jobs, jobs, jobs – jobs that keep the country safe and keep the economy strong," Mikulski said in a statement. "It’s about giving people the tools they need to prepare for the jobs of the future."

According to a study that was part of O'Malley's CyberMaryland plan, the state already is a national leader in cybersecurity, thanks to NIST, the National Security Agency (NSA), Fort Meade and other government agencies, as well as private companies such as SAIC, Computer Sciences Corp. and CACI.

In all, more than 9,500 private sector technology companies employ about 126,000 people in Maryland and the state led the nation in tech job employment growth between Nov. 2008-Nov. 2009, according to study from O'Malley's office.

At the same time, Maryland is hitching its technological future to what is expected to be one of the biggest growth engines in technology - especially when it comes to government contracting.

Reston, Va.-based market research firm INPUT estimates federal government spending on cybersecurity will increase from $7.9 billion in 2009 to $11.7 billion in 2014 - more than 8 percent per year.

"Cyber security is a tremendous growth field for this region," U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes of Towson said in announcing the jobs grant. "And we must prepare Marylanders to take advantage of job opportunities in the cyber security industry."



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