Studer Community Institute

Building a future in cybersecurity

May 28, 2015
/ Carlton Proctor
/ economy

Efforts to boost Pensacola's reputation as a national center for cybersecurity research took an important step forward this week thanks to Space Florida. The state’s lead aerospace and spaceport development authority, Space Florida has signed a three-year agreement with the University of West Florida that forges a key alliance in the development of the Sunshine State's cybersecurity technologies. “Space Florida looks for partnerships with universities that can help increase the number of high-tech jobs in our state,” said Space Florida President and CEO Frank DiBello. “UWF has a record of developing science and technology-based innovations, and we look forward to working with them to create the next generation of cybersecurity solutions.” UWF's Center for Research and Economic Opportunity will coordinate the joint effort with Space Florida. The driving force behind the partnership, said CREO's Brice Harris, is that UWF currently is working with Space Florida on a number of other projects, including plans to fund a $9 million building in Pensacola Technology Park at Ninth Avenue and Chase Street. "We've been looking at projects and programs where we could join forces and combine resources," Harris said. "So this is really a statement to the world that we're working together to pursue multiple projects, and cybersecurity will be one of those projects." Building on cybersecurity growth Cybersecurity is being viewed by local business and political leaders as a major growth industry for the economies of Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. The primary catalyst for this growth is the U.S. Navy Center for Information Dominance and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Computer Emergency Readiness Team located at Corry Station in Pensacola. The goal of Space Florida and UWF's Center for Cybersecurity is to identify opportunities to develop these technologies and transfer them to the commercial sector to help incubate private sector startup companies. The growth potential is great, says Escambia County Commissioner Doug Underhill, a former Navy officer with extensive experience in cybersecurity. Underhill said he stands ready to help foster cybersecurity growth in Pensacola in any way he can. "I'll be doing anything that UWF asks me to do that is within the legal and moral parameters of my job," he said. "We all know the cybersecurity business really is a future growth industry for Escambia County, and especially for the Warrington area.” West of downtown Pensacola, the Warrington community is home to Corry Station's Center for Information Dominance. While Pensacola has the desire, talent and tools to build up a major cybersecurity economy, one thing it lacks, Underhill said, is a national profile in that highly specialized industry sector. "If I were to try and name our biggest deficiency I would say it was in our public relations," Underhill said. Spreading the word Getting the word out to the world as to the cybersecurity assets the Pensacola area has already, along with its plans for expansion and attracting top talent in the field, is a challenge. But, Underhill notes, Pensacola has a good story to tell. "We've built as many high-paying jobs in the cyberindustry, completely under the radar, as the VT Aerospace deal will create in its entire lifetime." The VT Aerospace project at Pensacola International Airport includes construction of a $38 million hangar facility for the overhaul of commercial jetliners. The project, expected to get under way later this year, will create between 200 and 300 jobs over the next several years. Corry's Center for Information Dominance has grown rapidly in recent years, and currently has several hundred cryptologists and cybersecurity trainees under its command.

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Building a future in cybersecurity

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