NSF Engines Development Award: Advancing cyber security technologies in the Central Savannah River Area (GA, SC)

这一区域创新引擎发展奖的重点是萨凡纳河沿岸地区，横跨佐治亚州和南卡罗来纳州的几个县，中心在大奥古斯塔地区。这项工作的技术主题是网络安全、网络物理系统、边缘计算和物联网等相关领域。已确认的合作伙伴包括奥古斯塔大学(牵头机构)、佐治亚州网络中心(GCC)、佐治亚大学、克拉克·亚特兰大大学(CAU)、奥古斯塔技术学院、陆军网络司令部(ARCyBER)、萨凡纳河国家实验室、佐治亚州调查局(GBI)、Trideum公司、大熊市AI和国际经济发展理事会(IEDC)。该地区为未来NSF在这一技术领域的引擎做好了充分的准备，因为主要政府实体的利益一致，最近在奥古斯塔整合了ARCyBER，支持网络安全和相关领域重要项目的学术合作伙伴，以及越来越多的私人公司。目前，服务地区的社会经济地位相对较低，这一奖项可能会对该地区产生变革性的影响。网络犯罪成本和安全服务的价值正在迅速增加，因此网络安全对国家至关重要。此外，随着计算在我们周围的各种设备中变得无处不在，需要防御的攻击面越来越大，这意味着重大经济活动的机会。该奖项的组成部分包括：1)使用启发研究--学术合作伙伴与政府和私人机构建立了关系，包括使研究与ARCYBER和SRNL的需求保持一致。通过活动和互动，以及通过支持当地小企业的学生带薪实习，这种关系将扩大到包括其他政府和私人合作伙伴。2)劳动力发展-重点将是扩大该地区大学和两年制学院现有项目的招生人数，在不同的学术合作伙伴之间共享材料，以及创业培训。3)向实践过渡：将利用合作伙伴(IEDC、CAU和GCC)的优势，帮助将研究转化为实践，并培育新的企业，特别是针对少数民族和退伍军人。IEDC进行的经济扫描也将有助于指导未来的行动。合作伙伴之间拟议的整合，加上不断增长的劳动力发展和支持业务的协同活动，将使团队在两年内为NSF的全面引擎做好准备。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Regional Innovation Engines Development Award is focused on the area along the Savannah River, spanning several counties in Georgia and South Carolina with the center in the greater Augusta region. The technical themes of the effort are the related areas of cybersecurity, cyber-physical systems, edge computing, and the Internet of Things. The confirmed partners include Augusta University (lead institution), Georgia Cyber Center (GCC), University of Georgia, Clark Atlanta University (CAU), Augusta Technical College, Army Cyber Command (ARCYBER), Savannah River National Laboratory, Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), Trideum Corporation, Bigbear.AI, and the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). The region is well positioned for a future NSF Engine in this technical area because of aligned interests of major government entities, the recent consolidation of ARCYBER in Augusta, academic partners that support vital programs in cybersecurity and related areas, and a growing number of private companies. The region of service currently has a relatively low socio-economic status at the current time, and this award can have a transformative impact on the area.Cybercrime costs and the value of security services are increasing rapidly, so cybersecurity is critical for the Nation. Moreover, as computing has become ubiquitous in various devices around us, there is an ever-growing attack surface to defend, implying opportunities for significant economic activity. The components of this award include: 1) Use-Inspired Research - the academic partners have built relationships with government and private agencies, including aligning research with needs of ARCYBER and SRNL. The relationships will be expanded to include other government and private partners through events and interactions and by supporting paid internships for students at local small businesses. 2) Workforce Development - the focus will be on expanding enrollments in existing programs at the universities and two-year colleges in the area, sharing materials across different academic partners, and entrepreneurship training. 3) Transition to Practice: Strengths of partners (IEDC, CAU, and GCC) will be used to help transition research to practice and foster new businesses, especially for minorities and veterans. An economic scan conducted by IEDC will also help guide future actions. The proposed integration among the partners, together with growing workforce development and synergistic activities to support businesses, will prepare the team for a full NSF Engine in two years.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.