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Touted by the Appalachian Regional Commission as an example of the good use of its money, West Virginia University has established the state's first Cyber-Resilience Resource Center. That puts WVU on the cutting edge of supporting small and medium-sized businesses that need help with cybersecurity resources as those businesses increasingly rely on digital systems to survive.
Though the ARC spotlighted the CRRC as a good investment just last week, the center was established in October 2024, and has already worked with established businesses, startups and infrastructure.
Examples include water and wastewater treatment plants, community banks, small and medium nonprofits, and health and technology-related start-ups.
"We leverage student and faculty talent from higher education institutions across West Virginia and provide free or low-cost services including cybersecurity risk and resilience assessments, incident response planning, security policy development, direct technical IT and cybersecurity operations support, and employee awareness training," said CRRC Executive Director Christopher Ramezan. "By pairing applied cybersecurity services with workforce development, the CRRC not only helps organizations reduce risk and improve resilience today but also builds a sustainable pipeline of skilled cybersecurity professionals for the region."
Among the center's goals is for West Virginia to be known as a "national hub for cybersecurity talent, innovation and resilience," Ramezan said.
Now THAT is the kind of investment that really can move the needle for our region, and help the ARC reach what should be its goal of becoming obsolete. It's good for students; it's good for businesses, nonprofits and infrastructure agencies; and it is a forward-looking step toward doing better for our economy.
Well done.