Priya PatelTLDR:
UA Little Rock has received $5 million in federal funding to enhance cybersecurity in the energy sector through education, workforce development, and innovation. This initiative aims to improve education, training, and workforce development for securing industrial control systems against cybersecurity attacks, as well as improve threat analysis and intelligence sharing. Additionally, the funding will support the establishment of an innovation startup program in the Emerging Threat Information Sharing and Analysis Center dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship in energy cybersecurity.
Key Points:
- UA Little Rock receives $5 million in federal funding to advance cybersecurity education in the energy sector.
- The initiative includes improving education, training, and workforce development for securing industrial control systems against cybersecurity attacks.
- Partners include the Consortium for Cyber Innovation, Forge Institute, the University of Arkansas, and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
The funding provided by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response will help UA Little Rock and its partners develop a competency-based certificate program in cyber-informed engineering tailored for the energy sector. This program will equip students with specialized skills to meet the demands of the cybersecurity landscape and strengthen the expertise of operators, technicians, and engineers within the energy sector.
Additionally, the initiative will support the establishment of an innovation startup program in the Emerging Threat Information Sharing and Analysis Center to foster entrepreneurship in energy cybersecurity. This program will include a mentorship program and a pre-accelerator program to help formalize new ventures from concept to commercialized solutions.
Researchers will also leverage artificial intelligence and deep reinforcement learning techniques to identify optimal protection strategies against cyber threats, enhancing the center’s automated threat analysis process. Overall, this initiative aims to prepare students and researchers to address the challenges of the digital age and combat cybersecurity attacks in the energy sector.
