Vol 4 | Issue 3 | April 2019

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Cybersecurity Traing at Historically Black Colleges and Universities

As the daily lives of Americans rely on computer-driven and interconnected technologies, our prosperity and security depend on how we respond to the opportunities and challenges these technologies bring. With more communities using IoT devices to help monitor water and sewer, transportation and other needs, the rise of cyber-enabled economic espionage continues to grow. This has created a great demand for new cyber-related jobs. According to a US Department of Commerce and Department of Homeland Security Report to the President on Supporting the Growth and Sustainment of the Nation’s Cybersecurity Workforce, there were nearly 300,000 active openings for cybersecurity-related jobs in 2017 with an estimate of a 1.8 million workforce shortage by 2022.

In response to this crisis, Dr. Bruce Berger, executive director for the Center of Innovation and Entrepreneur Development at Clark Atlanta University is encouraging all Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to increase engagement in industry, government and education partnerships that train more cybersecurity analysts. For example, Morgan State has created the Center for Reverse Engineering and Assured Microelectronics (CREAM), a Department of Defense funded program which addresses the increasing dependence on cybersecurity for warfare. The program has grown to include 14 Ph.D. students (four women and 10 African-Americans), according to Dr. Kevin Kornegay, professor and Internet of Things (IoT) Security Endowed chair at Morgan. Norfolk State now offers malware reverse engineering training that allows students to work with and study malware. According to Dr. Aurelia T. Williams, director of Cybersecurity Complex at Norfolk State, the school has also submitted a proposal for a cyber psychology program. As a result of these programs, the Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency have credentialed both Norfolk State and Morgan State as Centers of Academic Excellence in cyber defense education. Dr. Berger, Dr. Kornegay, and Dr. Williams will be sharing their expertise in training students as cybersecurity analysts in the next BroadbandUSA webinar on April 17, 2019. See details on the right and register here.

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Broadband News and Updates

Federal News

• NTIA Announces Transition to NTIA.gov Domain

• NTIA is Seeking New Member for FirstNet Board

• Commerce Releases Report on Driving Space Commerce Through Effective Spectrum Policy

• Economic Development Administration Invests $1 Million to Expand Broadband in South Bend, IN

• 1.7 Million Rural Americans May Get Broadband After FCC Auction

• Overbuilding Gets Rural Accent at Hill Hearing

• White Houses Launches New Artificial Intelligence (AI) Website

• Information Collection Being Reviewed by the Federal Communications Commission Under Delegated Authority

State News

• Alabama: Ivey to Headline Alabama Summit on Rural Technology

• Indiana: Rural, Farm Legislation Makes Progress in Session

• Mississippi: Telecom-Backed Nonprofit Opposes Broadband Bonds in Mississippi

• Missouri: Missouri Among Top States for Future Tech Job Growth, New Report Says

• Montana: Is the FCC Understating the Scope of the Rural Broadband Gap?

• Nebraska: A Fight for Better Broadband in Nebraska is in Progress

• New York: New York Promises High-speed Internet for All but This Town was Left Behind

• North Carolina: New Partnership to Test Models that Could Bring High-Speed Internet to Unserved and Underserved Rural North Carolinians

• Ohio: The Ongoing Challenges to Expand Rural Broadband

• South Carolina: Wi-Fi Devices from the Library Could Help Fill Internet Deserts in South Carolina

• Tennessee: Gov. Bill Lee Announced $14.8 Million in Broadband Accessibility Grants and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee Dedicates $35 million to Rural Broadband

• Virginia: State Lawmakers Allow Utilities to Wire Rural Areas for Broadband

• Washington: Washington State Community Economic Revitalization Board invests $7,222,820 in low-interest loans and grants

• West Virginia: Facebook to Build Out Fiber Network in West Virginia

• Wyoming: Wyoming ups the ante to bring better broadband to rural areas:
  ‐ WY House Bill 97 Exempts Internet Service Providers from Sales Tax When They Purchase Equipment Used to Deliver High-speed Internet to Unserved Areas of the State.
  ‐ WY House Bill 247 Changes the Definition of “Unserved,” Originally Defined as an Area Receiving Less Than 10 Megabits per Second of Download Speed and One Megabit per Second of Upload Speed.

Broadband Mapping

• Senators: FCC Should Diversify Broadband Mapping Data Sources

• USTelecom: Reinventing Broadband Mapping is Needed to Close the Digital Divide

• Millions of Americans Still Can't Get Broadband. Here’s a Potential Fix

• Carriers Take Broadband Map Problems into Their Own Hands, USTelecom Spearheads Pilot

• Microsoft Says the FCC 'Overstates' Broadband Availability in the US

Public Safety/FirstNet

• FirstNet Authority Unveils Roadmap Plans, Investment Principles

• FirstNet Authority, UMMC to Innovate for Rural Response

• FirstNet Authority Co-Hosts Public Safety Innovation Day

• Communications Boosted at Birkebeiner Race with FirstNet Deployable

• FirstNet’s a Game Changer for the Nation’s Capital

• Citizen Potawatomi Nation: “When nothing else works, it will.”

Federal Funding

• USDA: ReConnect Events Schedule

• NSF: Convergence Accelerator Pilot

• FirstNet: Public Safety Haptics Challenge

General News

• T-Mobile Begins Limited Home Internet Pilot, Laying a Foundation for Home Broadband Disruption in Advance of Merger with Sprint

• Facebook to Help Expand Broadband Internet Service in West Virginia

• The Amazing Ways John Deere Uses AI And Machine Vision To Help Feed 10 Billion People

• The Ongoing Challenges to Expand Rural Broadband

• Highlights from One Winner of Center on Rural Innovation, Rural Innovation Initiatives Grants

• Brookings Institution: Three Ways Governors are Investing in Innovation

• Brookings Institution: A Broadband Agenda for the (Eventual) Infrastructure Bill

• American Enterprise Institute (AEI): The FCC is Fixing a Rural Broadband Embarrassment, but Work Remains

• Benton Foundation: Five Steps to Advance Rural Broadband

• Benton Foundation: An Office of Rural Broadband: We’ve Heard This Before

Resources

• City of Seattle: Technology Access and Adoption Study

• U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA): Grants Application and Management Community

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Events

NTIA Events

March 20, 2019
BroadbandUSA Practical Broadband Conversations Webinar Series: Model Programs and Practices for Building a Competitive Cybersecurity Workforce Shortage: The HBCU Story, 2:00 PM Eastern

By 2022, the cybersecurity workforce shortage is estimated to reach 1.8 million workers. In the meantime, the expansion of 5G and the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) continues to increase the need for secure networks . Innovative programs for cybersecurity awareness, education, training, and workforce development are essential to protect and defend against potential cyber-attacks, but finding qualified people is increasingly difficult. This webinar will highlight educational programs that address training for cybersecurity professionals focusing on contributions made by Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). You will also learn how the Minority Cybersecurity Council is working to bridge the gap between industry, government and education in order to inform the minority community about the growing employment and training opportunities in cybersecurity.

Moderator:

• Dr. Bruce Berger, JD, MBA, Lead, HBCU Cybersecurity Cluster, Director, Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Development, Clark Atlanta University

Panelists:

• Karl Cureton, Executive Chairman, National Minority Technology Council and Executive Director, Minority Cyber Inclusion Council

• Dr. Kevin T. Kornegay, Professor and IoT Security Endowed Chair, Director of Cybersecurity Assurance and Policy (CAP) Center, and Director, Center for Reverse Engineering and Assured Microelectronics (C.R.E.A.M.), Morgan State University

• Dr. Aurelia T. Williams, Executive Director of the Cybersecurity Complex and Lead PI for the Consortium Enabling Cybersecurity Opportunities and Research (CECOR), Norfolk State University

Click here to register

Events of Interest

April 1, 2019
Closing the Digital Divide 101 for Local and State Elected Officials, Charlotte, NC

April 1-3, 2019
Net Inclusion, Charlotte, NC

April 1-4, 2019
Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) 2019 Conference: "Envision 2030: Leadership for Learning," Portland, OR

April 1-4, 2019
WTA Advocates for Rural Broadband 2019 Spring Meeting, Palm Beach Gardens, FL

April 2-3, 2019
USDA ReConnect Technical Assistance Workshop Registration, Washington, PA

April 7-13, 2019
National Library Week: "Libraries = Strong Communities," nationwide

April 8-11, 2019
Broadband Communities Summit: Fiber: Putting Your Gigs to Work, Austin, TX

April 9-10, 2019
USDA ReConnect Technical Assistance Workshop Registration, Tucson, AZ

April 12, 2019
Alabama Summit on Rural Technology, Rural Summit 2.0, Livingston, AL

April 14-16, 2019
NTCA - The Rural Broadband Association Legislative and Policy Conference, Washington, DC

April 15-17, 2019
Smart Cities Council Smart Cities Week, San Diego, CA

April 16-17, 2019
NTTA Tribal Engineering and Broadband Summit, Mescalero, NM

April 16-17, 2019
USDA ReConnect Technical Assistance Workshop Registration, Junction City, KS

April 18, 2019
Rural Digital Divide: Challenges and Solutions, The University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE

April 23, 2019
BroadbandUSA: State Broadband Leaders Network (SBLN) Monthly Virtual Meeting

April 23-25, 2019
NTCA - The Rural Broadband Association Technology and Business Conference, Chicago, IL

April 23-24, 2019
USDA ReConnect Technical Assistance Workshop Registration, Welches, OR

May 22-24, 2019
Partnership for Progress on the Digital Divide Conference 2019, Washington, DC

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Policy Corner

Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council’s Broadband & Social Justice Summit
Summary of Remarks of David J. Redl Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information

Broadband Mapping: First, I’m happy to report that the Department of Commerce and NTIA are back in the mapping business. Congress last year directed NTIA to build on our previous mapping experience and the relationships we’ve made to update the national broadband availability map.

Internet Use Survey: In addition to our work on the map, we also released a series of reports last year based on our most recent survey of Americans about their computer and Internet use. One of our top-line findings from our November 2017 data collection was that we’re making progress in closing the digital divide, especially among historically disadvantaged groups.

Privacy: Ensuring that the Internet remains an engine for continued innovation and economic growth is part of NTIA’s core mission. That’s why we’re helping to develop the Administration’s policy toward consumer data privacy.

American Broadband Initiative: The Administration released a Milestones Report this past month, demonstrating the progress that we’ve made under President Trump. NTIA has committed, as part of the report, to creating a one-stop shop for federal broadband resources through our BroadbandUSA program. We're working to make it easy for you to find exactly what you're looking for through our BroadbandUSA website, including federal funding guides and overviews of permitting processes.

See the complete remarks here.