CyberMaryland Tapped for National Economic Development Award
Recognizes excellence in policy research
ANNAPOLIS, MD (May 20, 2010) –Governor Martin O’Malley today announced that CyberMaryland, a public/private economic development initiative to position Maryland as the nation's epicenter for cyber security, is being recognized with the 2010 Excellence in Community & Economic Development Research Award from the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER), a national organization that promotes excellence in research. The award is being presented today to officials from the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED) at the C2ER 50th Annual Conference at the Omni Shoreham in Washington, D.C.
“I want to congratulate the many Maryland companies, federal facilities, military commands, academia, and state and federal officials who worked together to develop Maryland's aggressive plan for supporting and growing the cyber security industry and who are being recognized on a national level,” said Governor O’Malley, who serves as co-Lead on Homeland Security for the National Governors’ Association Public Safety Task Force and sits on the U.S. Homeland Security Advisory Council. “Maryland has the knowledge, know-how, and can-do spirit to lead the way in cyber security. Our world-class facilities, federal agencies and military commands that are engaged in cyber security work, combined with our vibrant and growing private sector and talented universities, uniquely position Maryland to lead the way to protect and defend the nation’s digital infrastructure.”
Developed with guidance from more than 50 public and private sector information technology and security experts, CyberMaryland highlights the State’s key role in supporting President Barack Obama’s national cyber initiative and is the first comprehensive inventory of any State’s cyber security assets. In 2009, Maryland led the nation in the creation of computer systems design jobs, growing by more than 8 percent. CyberMaryland focuses on four key areas:
- Establishing a National Center of Excellence for Cybersecurity in Maryland;
- Branding Maryland as a hub of cyber intelligence, which enables the State to attract both national and global information technology companies;
- Focusing Maryland’s academic efforts on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to meet the ever increasing workforce needs of the cyber and IT industry; and
- Aligning the State’s cyber security best practices with those of the federal government to ensure a cohesive and consistent vision.
“When I was appointed Maryland’s economic chief 15 months ago, I pledged to Governor O’Malley and state business leaders that my agency would focus on our core competitive strengths by clearly identifying, analyzing, benchmarking and concisely documenting Maryland’s progress and opportunities in dynamic, knowledge driven industries that are critical to the State’s economic future,” said Christian S. Johansson, DBED Secretary, adding, “C2ER’s recognition of CyberMaryland reinforces our commitment to strategically target business and job growth in key and expanding areas.”
The C2ER awards program recognizes the contribution of research activities to the success of local, regional or state/provincial economic development initiatives and is designed to increase the quality of economic development research by identifying meritorious projects and promoting the diffusion of creative ideas for research activities.
CyberMaryland was selected as the 2010 recipient in Policy Analysis after judges reviewed dozens of award nominations in five categories and based on criteria including: contribution to applied research field; innovation in approach or implementation; unique approach to using researchers as part of the economic development team; economic benefits resulting from the project; quality of product or process; and replicability.
DBED’s Director of Research Nancy McCrea and Technology Policy Advisor Ben Wu will present their findings along with Sarah Djamshidi, Chesapeake Innovation Center Executive Director, at a C2ER conference workshop, “Industry Transformations: Trends in the CyberSecurity Industry.”
Released in mid-January, CyberMaryland has been downloaded more than 4,000 times. A companion news blog, CyberMaryland, was launched in March to report information, announcements and project status, http://cybermaryland.wordpress.com. For information or a copy of CyberMaryland, visit www.choosemaryland.org.
Created in 1961, C2ER is a membership organization dedicated to promoting excellence in economic research by improving data availability, enhancing data quality and fostering learning about regional economic analytic methods. The organization’s annual awards program, now in its 11th year, recognizes accomplishments in community and economic research. C2ER is known for producing the ACCRA Cost of Living Index, respected by the U.S. Census Bureau, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, CNN Money and the President’s Council of Economic Advisors as the most reliable source of city-to-city comparisons of key consumer costs.
