Md. universities to partner on first US-sponsored cybersecurity R&D center

The University System of Maryland and MITRE Corporation, a nonprofit that specializes in running research partnerships with the government, will operate a new federally-funded research and development center (FFRDC), according to a news release from the school system.
The center will be the first of its kind to focus solely on cybersecurity and “protecting national information systems,” the statement said. It will be based in Rockville and employ about 40 information security specialists.
The FFRDC will be incorporated into the already-existing National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence in Rockville, a joint project launched in 2012 by a U.S. Commerce Department agency, the state of Maryland and Montgomery County.
The Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) signed a contract with MITRE to run the center, awarding up to $5 billion over the next 25 years, according to a NIST release.
In a statement, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker said the funding “will enable the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence to expand and accelerate its public-private collaborations through the Department’s first Federally Funded Research and Development Center focused on boosting the security of U.S. information systems.”