Coalition of universities and colleges making Virginia a cybersecurity powerhouse
The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative exceeds expectations, tripling the amount of cybersecurity research funding that comes into Virginia in just five years.
President Tim Sands discusses research with students at last year’s annual CCI Symposium.
Now in its fifth year of operations, the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) is achieving its mission in making Virginia a global leader in cybersecurity and a top destination for federal and industry cybersecurity research.
“What makes CCI so successful is that we have 46 institutions of higher learning in Virginia joining forces toward a common goal,” said Luiz DaSilva, CCI's executive director. “Our deeply interconnected mission lines of research, workforce development, and innovation bring return on investment in multiple ways, from a three-fold increase in extramural research funding to job creation and retention to a robust cybersecurity innovation ecosystem in Virginia.”
Virginia Tech holds a leadership role, hosting both the CCI Hub, which coordinates and funds programs across the state and is based at the Virginia Tech Research Center — Arlington, and the CCI Southwest Virginia Node. DaSilva presented an update about CCI activities to the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors’ Academic, Research, and Student Affairs Committee this week.
CCI reported a record $110.7 million in new research grants and contracts for fiscal year 2024, tripling the amount of cybersecurity research being conducted in Virginia since CCI began operations in fiscal year 2020.
In its first four years of operations, CCI generated $196 million in labor income, added $397 million in value to Virginia’s gross domestic product, and sourced 2,157 jobs.
CCI is addressing top cybersecurity issues through its research programs focused on cybersecurity in such areas as supply chain, infrastructure, artificial intelligence, inclusion and accessibility, wireless networks, NextG, privacy, open radio access network, interactions between humans and machines, and more.
CCI also is expanding the global impact of the commonwealth and Virginia Tech, said Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation Dan Sui, who attended a U.S./European Cybersecurity Workshop in Belgium in May that was co-organized by CCI. More than 60 cybersecurity experts from 35 academic, industry, and governmental organizations representing 10 countries attended.
“This influential international workshop brought together top cybersecurity experts to focus on global cybersecurity collaborations to develop resilient and secure systems and defend against cyberattacks,” Sui said. “Virginia Tech’s considerable expertise in wireless communications and cybersecurity will be helping to solve these issues that impact economies on a local and global scale.”
About a dozen international delegations, including from Japan, Belgium, Finland, Sweden, France, Brazil, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, and India, have visited CCI at the Virginia Tech Research Center — Arlington to learn more about open radio access networks (O-RAN) and the CCI xG Testbed.
Connecting students with job opportunities
With 115,059 Virginians employed in cybersecurity, Virginia is second only to California, which has 123,505 people working in cybersecurity. Virginia currently has 53,520 job openings in cybersecurity, according to Cyberseek.org.
CCI has supported 573 interns and experiential learning participants, 801 undergraduates, and 317 research scientists and graduate assistants. Women represent 25 percent of the cyber workforce but are 43 percent of CCI’s undergraduate interns.
The CCI Project-Based Learning Program connects students with such notable companies as Microsoft and CACI to work on projects that give them the experiential learning they need to launch careers and mentoring from top professionals. Hundreds of students annually attend the online CCI Internship and Job Fair, which will be held this year on Sept. 17.
Creating cybersecurity spinout companies
Cybersecurity has attracted venture capitalists, representing 27 percent of venture deals in Virginia in 2022 and the first half of 2023. CCI manages several programs designed to bring research into the marketplace, resulting in five spin-off companies founded by CCI faculty and students based on their research.
CCI also has formed 524 external partnerships with industry leaders and startups to expand the commonwealth’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Investing in research infrastructure and talent
Building a strong network of researchers and infrastructure is leading to national attention. Virginia researchers are working on or leading six out of 13 awarded projects from the first round of the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund, which is part of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 and managed by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
One such project is a $42 million grant awarded in February to Verizon and AT&T and features the CCI xG Testbed based at Virginia Tech. The CCI xG Testbed will be the Washington, D.C., area home of a testing, evaluation, and research and development center dubbed Platform for O-RAN Testing, Orchestration, and Management with AI Control, or POTOMAC.
This test bed is helping train future cybersecurity experts and offers industry partners an unparalleled opportunity to test hardware and software before moving to the marketplace.
The CCI xG Testbed is the largest and most advanced of its kind. It also is an Open Testing and Integration Center, an essential component in boosting advancements and competition in wireless mobile networks based on O-RAN. CCI has one of seven centers in North America and one of 17 in the world approved by the O-RAN Alliance.
“We’ve just started our fifth year of operations and have already moved beyond our original expectations,” DaSilva said. “Virginia is a truly amazing place where we can continue to build a cybersecurity ecosystem that will contribute to national and global security as well as the economy.”
