Commonwealth Cyber Initiative’s Ideation to Commercialization program seeks proposals, seeds larger opportunities
The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) is seeking proposals from Southwest Virginia researchers for Innovation: Ideation to Commercialization. This program is designed to provide paths to market for research and technologies with the potential for significant societal and economic impact within the intersection of data, autonomy, and security.
CCI Southwest Virginia’s research areas emphasize cybersecurity related to fast, secure, and customizable communications systems and technologies.
Researchers interested in submitting should review the following timeline:
- Deadline for submission: Jan. 27, 5 p.m. ET
- Period of performance: April 1, 2023-March 31, 2024
- Anticipated award amount: Up to $50,000
“The Ideation to Commercialization program provides early-stage funding to help researchers and their teams to think creatively about how their work can impact new audiences in the public sphere,” said Gretchen Matthews, director of CCI Southwest Virginia. “The program aims to inspire researchers to consider who in their labs or groups might take the technology to the next stage. Students? Postdocs? Research scientists?”
The innovation program has provided grant funding and early-stage commercialization resources to the Southwest Virginia cyber research community since 2021. Ideation to Commercialization awards are designed to move an idea to the next stage. For example, a team may propose funds for market research and concept development, prototype creation, or other mechanisms to advance commercialization. With this boost, a project can gain momentum to attract funding from federal agencies, nonprofits, foundations, and other interested parties.
CCI innovation projects that received funding in previous years include an effort to develop and license a library of real world driving data that could simulate an automated car response to a hacking event, a managed security service to automate the use of social media to address cyber threats, and market research for no-train artificial intelligence in enterprise defense-in-depth applications.
CCI serves as a catalyst for the commonwealth's long-term leadership in the cybersecurity sector through a central hub and four regional nodes. The Southwest node is led by Virginia Tech and includes Radford University, Virginia Military Institute, the University of Virginia’s College at Wise, and a network of community colleges.
In support of the CCI mission, CCI Southwest Virginia funds programs that focus on research, innovation, and workforce development. Innovation and commercialization projects include a mix of startup support programs, proof-of-concept funding, patent support, entrepreneurs-in-residence, and events to connect innovators and entrepreneurs.
