History

In July 2018, the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation establishing the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative to “serve as an engine for research, innovation, and commercialization of cybersecurity technologies, and address the Commonwealth’s need for growth of advanced and professional degrees within the cyber workforce.” That legislation required Virginia Tech to develop a blueprint for development and operation of the initiative. After five months of discussions with over 80 stakeholders from 50 organizations, the CCI Blueprint was delivered to the Virginia Research Investment Committee on December 1, 2018. Read the Blueprint here.

In June 2019, the four CCI Nodes were certified by the Virginia Research Investment Committee, completing the establishment of the statewide CCI Network. These nodes, working with their regional stakeholders, established strategic plans and received their initial funding in early 2020.

In March 2020, Luiz DaSilva joined the network as CCI’s inaugural executive director. DaSilva previously led CONNECT – the Science Foundation Ireland Centre for Future Communications and Networks. 

In April 2020, CCI’s funding for its second year was renewed, a $17.5 million investment by the Commonwealth of Virginia in fiscal year 2021.