Georgia Announces $35 Million Expansion to Cybersecurity Innovation Facility

The state of Georgia has unveiled a $35 million expansion to its cybersecurity hub, the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center, announced earlier this year. The additional investment will fund a second facility, which will serve as a training space for the state's cybersecurity workforce and an incubator for security startups.

“Cybersecurity technology is changing at a disruptive speed and today, that rate of change is likely the slowest it will be in our lifetime," said Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal in a statement announcing the expansion. "This facility will encourage world-class collaboration between industry leaders, startup companies, academic institutions and government in the field of cybersecurity, and provide space for private sector entities to leverage the center’s strategic resources."

The projects are overseen by the Georgia Technology Authority alongside partners that include the U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence at Fort Gordon, the Georgia National Guard, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the City of Augusta, the University System of Georgia, the Technical College System of Georgia, local school systems and private corporations. The original facility is already under construction and slated to open in July 2018. The GTA will break ground on the new facility immediately, with its initial opening set for December 2018.

"IT in general changes quickly, but the cyber piece changes literally every day. That’s why trying to find more effective ways to collaborate and combat new cyber threats is important," Georgia CIO Calvin Rhodes told StateTech in an interview about the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center earlier this year. "Centers like this are going to be a necessity — governments making investments at a significant level where it would not make sense in the private sector, and then sharing the resources we have built for the common good."