New Mexico Cybersecurity Center of Excellence

The vision of the NMCCoE is to make New Mexico a leader in developing technologies and companies around novel and forward-looking solutions to pressing cybersecurity issues.

The NMCCoE's economic development goals are:

1. Develop an entrepreneurial cybersecurity workforce and help grow cybersecurity companies.
2. Enhance cybersecurity research and information flow between Universities and Industry.
3. Facilitate improved cybersecurity in New Mexico businesses.

The workforce development is supported by the following strategies:

1. Provide students with project-based cybersecurity experience to enable development of entrepreneurship skills.
2. Give students hands-on experience in cybersecurity research, audits, and incident response.
3. Engage students in applied cybersecurity academic programs and research projects.

Facilitating information flow for New Mexico's cybersecurity market is supported by the following strategies:

1. Engaging faculty, students, researchers and industry representatives in cybersecurity research and  collaborations.
2. Host workshops and conferences to exchange cybersecurity challenges and solutions.

Improving the cybersecurity of businesses requires active engagement between industry and academia to solve cybersecurity challenges; it is supported by the following strategies:

1. Engage faculty and students in cybersecurity research to develop solutions to cybersecurity challenges impacting New Mexico.
2. Communicate cybersecurity awareness and best practices to municipalities and businesses.
3. Audit vulnerabilities, incidents and security plans for municipalities and businesses.

The goals of Cybersecurity Center of Excellence are as follows:

1.  NMCCoE will develop partnerships and collaborations with New Mexico universities and colleges that support workforce development, entrepreneurial innovation and closer ties between academia and industry. NMCCoE will survey the existing New Mexico cyber landscape and use that information as a basis for moving forward to identify vulnerabilities and opportunities, integrate capabilities where possible, and build a robust, state-wide cybersecurity awareness and capability.

2.  In addition to developing an understanding of the NM cybersecurity landscape, NMCCoE will develop a consortium that supports economic development in cybersecurity.  Consortium members may include public utilities, national and federal laboratories, colleges and universities, state and local government agencies, and industry.   The consortium will, in turn, support statewide cybersecurity economic and business opportunities, address cyber vulnerabilities, partner with others in cyber infrastructure, and support the growth of the NMCCoE.

NMCCoE will foster mutually beneficial interactions among the various entities involved in cybersecurity research and education at New Mexico Tech.  A particular focus will be developing strong collaborations between the research centers, faculty and students.  NMCCoE will also foster applied cyber economic development projects, providing an important link between the NMCCoE, universities, and state-wide industry.