USM Cyber Security Task Force
Adelphi, MD
May 23, 2011
As Prepared
Thank you Chancellor Kirwan for your leadership,… It’s great to be here with Senator Barbara A. Mikulski – the A stands for “Always Moving Forward.” And it’s great to join Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger. We are very lucky in Maryland to have both of you working tirelessly, every day, to keep our families, our homes, our jobs and our digital networks out of harm’s way.
A special word of thanks to all the members of the Cyber Security Task Force for your hard work toward the goal we share of leveraging our potential as the epicenter of national cyber security. I look forward to reading your report.
Only 17 months ago, I stood with Senator Mikulski - and many of you here in this room - to officially launch our CyberMaryland initiative. Some of you joined us a few weeks ago, where, along with Dr. Freeman Hrabowski of UMBC, we unveiled the Cync Program at bwtech@UMBC, a University sponsored cyber incubator. Efforts like these are making our campuses hubs of economic growth and job creation.
We have a unique constellation of assets here in Maryland - from our military installations (including the US Cyber Command),… to more than 50 federal facilities,… to some of the world’s leading institutions of research, discovery, and higher learning,… to the thousands of companies -- both emerging and established -- who are pioneering new technologies to keep our 21st century cyber-connected world operating safely and security.
Our great challenge is to find a way forward, crossing the delta of opportunity that exists between these assets, all the research that goes on in our State – and the commercialization that creates new jobs, creates new businesses, and expands new opportunity in the changing new economy.
As a State, we rank within the Top 2 for innovation and entrepreneurship, so says the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. We rank with in the Top 2 for Science and Technology, so says the Milken Institute. We’re #3 in the Kauffman New Economy Index. We’re #1 in Research & Development per capita. And we’re #1 in public education, so says Education Week magazine for three years in a row,…
We ought be able to do better than #37 in entrepreneurial activity and #37 in commercialization, don’t you think?
The work of the Task Force is very important. It’s very import for creating jobs. It’s very important for crossing this delta of opportunity. It’s very important for growing Maryland’s Innovation Economy.
Maryland’s Innovation Economy
In this changing new economy, we are in a fight for jobs and opportunity. The states that win, will be the states that are able to make the tough but right decisions to create jobs by increasing and accelerating innovation.
That’s why this session we chose to invest in Maryland’s Innovation Economy by creating the $100 million InvestMaryland tax credit initiative – the single largest shot of venture capital dollars we’ve ever pumped into our economy.
We fought for InvestMaryland because we believe in the potential of what companies like Telcordia, TeleCommunications Systems, TechGuard, and Technology Security Associated can do when they are given access to start-up capital.
While no state has fully recovered from these tough economic times, in Maryland we’re recovering faster and stronger than most. So far this year, we’ve created 13,000 jobs at more than twice the national growth rate. And together, we’ve driven unemployment down to the lowest rate in two years. We’re now nearly 25% lower than the national rate.
None of this is by chance, it’s by choice. Tough choices we’ve made together to cut $6.8 billion in state spending over 5 years – the most ever in a 5-year period. Tough choices to protect our Triple A Bond rating, shore up our pension system, and make the largest investments we’ve ever made together as a State in our public schools,… schools which Education Week magazine says for the third year in a row are the #1 best schools in the United States of America.
Conclusion
We have so many advantages in our State. The question is how do we leverage them so that we can move forward with greater job creation? All of the assets are there but what we have to do right now is to map that ecosystem, if you will, that fosters commercialization that fosters innovation, that moves the ideas from the labs into the marketplace, and makes this economy go and grow.
Cyber Security is a large part of the answer. It represents the next great frontier for discovery, detection and defense. And because of Maryland’s unique cyber security assets – we are uniquely positioned to leverage our assets for greater job creation and growth.
Thank you all very much.
