The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) was established under the enabling authority of the Appropriation Act - Item 252.B7, Special Session I, 2018. Its objective is “to serve as an engine for research, innovation, and commercialization of cybersecurity technologies, and address the Commonwealth’s need for growth of advanced and professional degrees within the cyber workforce" (Virginia State Budget, 2018).

Our ambitious vision is to establish Virginia as a global leader in cybersecurity, and by doing so, help diversify the economy of the commonwealth, attracting private investment and jobs.

In Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) we continued to see significant increase in new research contracts from sources outside the commonwealth, as well as additional emphasis on our workforce development and innovation programs. Virginia is unique in the country in establishing this large-scale collaboration of institutions of higher education (now with 46), and the investment continues to pay off in jobs (and, crucially, a skilled workforce that can fill those jobs!), spin-outs and startups, and the reputation of our academic institutions. This report highlights some of the major accomplishments in the past fiscal year.

Global Distinction. In line with our goal of establishing Virginia as a global leader in cybersecurity, we have stepped up collaborations with partners in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. In partnership with KU Leuven, one of the leading universities in Europe, we held our first international cybersecurity workshop. Sixty attendees, representing 35 institutions in 10 countries, attended this two-day, invitation-only workshop with the goal of establishing research partnerships in cybersecurity across the Atlantic. Virginia researchers and university leaders collaborated with the European attendees in planning sessions that mapped out key cybersecurity challenges to be addressed with USEurope partnerships and mechanisms for these collaborations to happen. The workshop resulted in a report being presented to funding agencies on both sides of the Atlantic and other key stakeholders. This year, CCI also joined the International Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (INCS-CoE), an international organization led by universities in the U.S., the U.K., and Japan focusing on international collaborations in cybersecurity research, policy, and education. The CCI Executive Director serves on the board of directors of the organization. Our xG testbed continues to attract international attention, and CCI has hosted delegations from more than 10 countries, often accompanied by representatives from the Department of State and other government agencies.

A Strong Innovation Ecosystem. In the last two years, an estimated 27% of venture capital investments in Virginia were in the field of cybersecurity. CCI continues to contribute to building this ecosystem. In FY24, two new CCI spinouts incorporated in Virginia. These are companies founded by CCI faculty and/or students and that received support from us, usually in early stages of ideation and development of a business plan. The Cyber Acceleration, Translation, and Advanced Prototyping for University Linked Technology (CATAPULT) program, co-funded by the CCI Hub and Northern Virginia (NoVA) Node, provides mentorship and financial support for translation of cybersecurity ideas that originate in one of the CCI institutions into commercialization. At the end of each cohort, inventors get to present to a panel of venture capitalists. Pictured here is Dr. Radhika Barua, Assistant Professor at VCU and a researcher funded by CATAPULT, describing to the panel her MagnaShield product, designed to protect hardware from undue electromagnetic interference. The CATAPULT Fund, now in its third year, is critical to advance the maturity of cyber discoveries during the critical "Valley of Death" phase of commercialization. After the initial funding from this program, innovators are better equipped to progress to SBIR/STTR grants, funding from VIPC, and seed and angel investor funding.

Project-based Learning. There are an estimated 50,000 unfilled cybersecurity jobs in Virginia. Despite this enormous need for new talent, graduating students often find that even entry-level positions require years of experience. Our workforce development programs focus on experiential learning, putting students to work directly with their potential future employers and providing hands-on experience. In our project-based learning program, students work in our industry partners on multiweek cybersecurity projects (while earning an hourly wage). We currently partner with Microsoft and CACI. The cohort shown in the picture included students from Virginia Tech, Christopher Newport University, Laurel Ridge Community College (now attending Old Dominion University), and George Mason University working with Microsoft mentors on a project that investigates cyber vulnerabilities in the use of the Flipper Zero devices. The program is earning rave reviews from students and companies, and we are working on expanding it to more industry partners. Project-based learning is part of a wider portfolio of CCI experimental learning programs that also include internships, traineeships, and others. An annual CCI job and internship fair and Capture the Flag (CTF) events at the regional, commonwealth-wide, and international levels are other important components of our workforce development strategy.

Another Record-breaking Year for Research Funding. The success of the cybersecurity research program in Virginia is evident from scientific breakthroughs being produced by our researchers. It is also measured in research dollars that we are able to bring to fund cybersecurity projects in the commonwealth. We track new research grants and contracts that we obtain every fiscal year, starting at the inception of the initiative. Back in FY20 through Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22), our researchers were bringing approximately $35 million in new research funding per year. Now, in FY24, we brought in $112 million in new grants and contracts, more than triple of our baseline in early days of CCI. This tremendous growth is unheard of and is a testament to the brilliance of the researchers that Virginia is able to attract. It is also a result of CCI’s strategy of focusing on team building to go after large-scale research opportunities, as much of the growth can be attributed to increased success in multi-million dollar grants that often require collaboration among researchers in multiple institutions. Approximately 70% of our research funding comes from federal agencies and 30% from the private sector, and the duration of the projects can vary from a few months to five or more years.

Leadership in ORAN. CCI’s investments in research infrastructure, in particular the xG testbed, with components at Virginia Tech, Mason, and ODU, has placed us in the leadership of Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN). This year, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo visited CCI to announce a $42 million grant to a project funded by the Wireless Innovation Fund. [She is pictured here at Virginia Tech, with Senator Mark Warner, U.S. Representative Don Beyer, and Assistant Secretary Alan Davidson, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Administrator.] This is one of six projects funded this year by the NTIA with participation from CCI researchers. Open networks are a fundamental component of the U.S. strategy to spur innovation and increase competition in the wireless communications market, and our researchers are worldwide leaders in securing these networks. Forming talent with expertise in O-RAN is a major challenge in the race for leadership in this sector, and CCI is a major contributor to workforce development in this space.

CCI funding is distributed to researchers through open calls for proposals issued both by the Hub and the Nodes. Proposals are peer-reviewed and final recommendations made by CCI’s Leadership Council. This ensures that the best ideas, aligned with CCI’s mission, are selected for funding in an open and transparent manner.

We continue to be advised by a highly distinguished Technical Advisory Board (TAB), with representatives from industry, state and federal government, academia, and the innovation ecosystem. Some major goals for the coming fiscal year include:

• The launch and execution of CCI 2030, our strategic plan for the next seven years.

• Continued focus on center-scale, multi-million dollar grants involving more than one CCI institution.

• Engagement with industry through a new industry-university cooperation center funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

• Capacity building in Virginia on the topic of cybersecurity for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI for cybersecurity.

• The launch of a new innovation program and continued support for our incubator and accelerator programs.

• Expansion of international partnerships, strengthening partnerships in Europe and forging new ones in Asia and Latin America.

• Scaling up of our project-based learning program by recruiting additional key industry partners.

• Celebration of our five-year anniversary, communicating CCI’s impact to the commonwealth and the Nation.