"DoD Grants Fund Cybersecurity Research for Maritime Industry"

The Department of Defense (DoD) has made millions of dollars in grant funding available to a Rhode Island research consortium that will fund cybersecurity and supply chain research for the maritime industry. The DoD designated six new Defense Manufacturing Communities across the country. The program, which was authorized by the National Defense Authorization Act of 2019, is intended to fund long-term investments in local businesses working on national security technologies or innovation. The funds are distributed to joint ventures composed of academic institutions, defense contractors or associations, non-profit organizations, and state and local governments. One of the chosen consortiums is led by the University of Rhode Island Research Foundation, which proposes to use up to $5 million in federal grant funding to address weaknesses in the maritime defense industrial base through workforce training or retraining, recruitment and retention, and expanding small business assistance to support automation and robotics, as well as cyber resiliency. According to a project description on the DoD website, the project will provide a minimum of 50 small business assistance grants, educate and train 675 students and workers using Manufacturing Innovation Institute enhanced offerings, and launch an innovative Education to Assessment model to improve assessment capability and supplier matching for DoD supply chain companies. This article continues to discuss the DoD-funded maritime industry cybersecurity research efforts. 

SC Magazine reports "DoD Grants Fund Cybersecurity Research for Maritime Industry"