CCI NoVa Node

About Us

Steven Partridge, Vice President Strategic Partnerships and Workforce Innovation, NOVA, describes new workforce initiatives at a meeting of the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) NoVa Node partners meeting at CGI Federal's Innovation Center in Arlington, VA in July 2019.

The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI), funded by the Virginia General Assembly, created a Commonwealth-wide ecosystem of innovation in cybersecurity and cyber-physical systems (CPS) security. CCI will ensure Virginia is recognized as a global leader in secure CPS and in the digital economy more broadly for decades to come by supporting world-class research at the intersection of data, autonomy, and security; promoting technology commercialization and entrepreneurship; and preparing future generations of innovators and research leaders. CCI will build on Virginia’s strong base of research excellence, its innovative and diverse higher education system, vibrant ecosystem of venture capital investment and high-growth firms, and unparalleled density of cybersecurity talent.

The CCI ecosystem is defined by four regional Nodes covering the entire Commonwealth of Virginia, and a Hub in Northern Virginia. George Mason University leads the CCI Northern Virginia Node (NoVa Node) region. Partners in the CCI NoVa Node include institutions of higher education, corporations, small businesses, non-profit organizations, P-12 schools, economic development organizations, and accelerators from 19 counties and are committed to working together to achieve the goals of the CCI. To read more about the CCI, please read the CCI Blueprint.

CCI Blueprint

NORTHERN VIRGINIA CYBER TRAINING AND EDUCATION ROADMAP

The Community, Military, and Federal Facility Partnership of Northern Virginia’s Cyber Training & Roadmap is the result of an academic alliance formed in May 2017 focused on addressing cyber talent shortfalls in the region necessary to address increasing operational and organizational risks. Initial priorities and associated strategies in the Roadmap were identified during a Cyber Training & Education Conference held on June 26, 2018, at George Mason University (Mason). The Northern Virginia Regional Commission (NVRC), Mason and Booz Allen Hamilton planned the event that included over 300 stakeholders from colleges and universities in the region, the nine public school districts, the private sector, the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC), Veterans organizations, military installations, federal agencies, and cities and counties in Northern Virginia. The Cyber Training and Education Roadmap (the Roadmap) provides a framework of priorities and associated strategies to coordinate efforts in the Northern Virginia region to prepare, grow, and sustain a cybersecurity workforce that safeguards and promotes our region’s security and economic prosperity. The Roadmap serves as the foundation for the strategic plan for workforce development in the the CCI NoVa Node.

CCI Nova Node Roadmap The Northern Virginia Regional Commission’s Community, Military and Federal Facility Partnership and Fort Belvoir were recognized at the Pentagon in early December as winners of one of the United States Army’s 2019 Community Partnership Award. From left to right: The Honorable Alex A. Beehler Assistant Secretary of the United States Army, Installations, Energy and Environment ; Col Michael Greenberg, Fort Belvoir Garrison; CSM Young, Fort Belvoir Garrison; Robert E. Lazaro, Jr, NVRC Executive Director; Dr. Liza Wilson Durant, George Mason University; Melanie Stover, Northern Virginia Community College; Will Rowe, JR., Booz Allen Hamilton; Peggy Tadej, Director of Community and Military Partnerships for NVRC; and Lieutenant General Jason T. Evans, Deputy Chief of Staff, G-9 (Installations).