DreamPort plans expansion of Columbia collaboration space

DreamPort, which provides room for work on cybersecurity projects in support of U.S. Cyber Command, plans to expand in its current space in Columbia.

The size of the center at 7000 Columbia Gateway Drive will double to 34,600 square feet, according to Corporate Office Properties Trust (COPT), the real estate company that owns the building. Set to open in the fall, the expansion will add about 17,000 square feet of coworking, lab and meeting space.

Opened in 2018, the space is run by the nonprofit Maryland Innovation and Security Institute. The institute has a five-year partnership agreement with Cyber Command, which oversees U.S. cyber operations and is headquartered at nearby Fort Meade. DreamPort is designed as an unclassified space to bring together government technologists with entrepreneurs, small businesses and academics to collaborate on cybersecurity projects.

“Since opening, we have been overwhelmed by the engagement of business and academia, and the desire of all parties to come together with the U.S. Government to work toward solutions to some of the most pressing cyber challenges facing our nation,” MISI Director Karl Gumtow said in a statement.

DreamPort also offers project rooms and conference areas. Along with the work taking place during the day, it has also hosted events on tech topics and rapid prototyping.

It’s the latest bit of news about cybersecurity growth in Columbia in recent weeks.

In June, COPT also inked a pair of leases with Maryland cybersecurity companies iNovex and Red Alpha to move headquarters to a nearby building on Columbia Gateway Drive. That followed news of three other companies growing in other parts of the development. The Columbia-based company says about a third of the 8.1 million square feet it leases in Maryland are with cybersecurity companies.

Columbia Gateway is also home to the Howard County Innovation Center, which opened an incubator as it wrapped up an initial phase of construction earlier this month.