While much has been accomplished toward the nation’s cybersecurity efforts, one area still lacking significantly in cybersecurity preparedness are the states, local governments, tribes and territories. The nation needs a grassroots effort to build national cybersecurity from the ground up, and this will require a “champion” and catalyst in each community across the nation. The best place to look for these champions is in institutions of higher education (IHE) in partnership with local K-12 school districts.

The Academia Involvement in Community Cybersecurity Conference will examine how IHE’s can have a significant impact on the communities they reside in, and what they can do to inspire a Culture of Cybersecurity throughout the community. This includes all sectors – government, industry, critical infrastructures, academia, non-profit organizations, and the citizens. These entities make up the “soft underbelly” of the nation and have increasingly been the target of cyber attacks.

The goal of the conference is to make IHEs and school districts aware of how they can impact the nation’s cybersecurity posture and workforce. IHEs and school districts will be presenting ideas on how they can impact their communities and the resources available to them. The goal is to spread this across the nation through the NSA/DHS Centers of Academic Excellence (CAE) network, and that additional ideas and projects will be spawned from the conference that can be shared through the NCAE community to increase community cybersecurity.