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

这个区域创新引擎发展奖的重点是沿着萨凡纳河的地区，横跨格鲁吉亚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，边缘计算和物联网的相关领域。确认的合作伙伴包括奥古斯塔大学（牵头机构）、格鲁吉亚网络中心（GCC）、格鲁吉亚大学、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、格鲁吉亚调查局（GBI）、Trideum公司、Bigbear.AI和国际经济发展理事会（IEDC）。由于主要政府实体的利益一致，最近在奥古斯塔巩固了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营公司，该地区在未来的NSF引擎中处于有利地位。该服务地区目前的社会经济地位相对较低，该奖项可能会对该地区产生变革性影响。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，需要防御的攻击面不断增加，这意味着重大经济活动的机会。该奖项的组成部分包括：1）启发性研究-学术合作伙伴与政府和私营机构建立了关系，包括使研究与ARCYBER和SRNL的需求保持一致。这些关系将扩大到包括其他政府和私人合作伙伴，通过活动和互动，并通过支持学生在当地小企业的带薪实习。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课程的入学人数，在不同的学术合作伙伴之间共享材料，以及创业培训。3)过渡到实践：合作伙伴（IEDC，CAU和GCC）的优势将用于帮助过渡研究实践和促进新业务，特别是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。合作伙伴之间的拟议整合，以及不断增长的劳动力发展和协同活动，以支持业务，将在两年内为一个完整的NSF引擎团队做好准备。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

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.