New center at USC Aiken aims to boost cyberscurity workforce
AIKEN, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - Ground was broken ceremonially on Tuesday for a new center on the University of South Carolina Aiken campus to help meet the demand for cybersecurity workers.
The South Carolina National Guard and the university hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for a new $30 million Cyber Integration Center.
The center will bolster the CSRA’s role as a hub for cybersecurity, not only in private industry but also in the military at Fort Eisenhower.
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The center will be adjacent to the Savannah River National Laboratory Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative.
Right now, the space is just an old softball field, but next year it’ll be helping bridge the cybersecurity workforce gap and bringing more hands-on experience for students.
“Fifteen to 18 years ago, we looked at cybersecurity as: How do we keep records safe within our businesses? And now we know that cybersecurity is a national security issue,” Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette said.
It’s an issue at least 400 students at USC Aiken are hoping to help with, and they’re hoping that number will grow.
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“Cybersecurity is an important issue regionally and also nationally,” said Dan Heimmermann, chancellor. “To have this facility on our campus will afford our students with real-world experiences working side by side with cyber professionals in the National Guard, so preparing them to be job-ready day one.”
The 26,000-square-foot facility will host training, education, prototyping and collaboration for South Carolina National Guard soldiers, university students and others.
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“There’s a strong correlation between when you can create environments where the minds of our young men and women in uniform and the civilians working alongside us can find like-minded individuals working against a purpose and an objective that’s clear, noble and challenging,” said Ryan Janovic, commanding general of the Cyber Center of Excellence at Fort Eisenhower. “If we’re doing that and finding the next horizon of where we need to be as a nation, that to me is where we find talent, staying with us.”
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The center will also help bridge the cybersecurity workforce gap.
“I’m hoping that it’s going to spark some fire in our young people and those middle schoolers and high schoolers that are looking for what their career is going to be and to understand that this is a worthwhile career that is going to give meaning to everything they do every day,” said Evette.
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