IU, Crane Partnering on Cybersecurity
Indiana University and Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center are working together in an effort to enhance cybersecurity. The IU Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research has signed a two-year agreement with the Naval base to share personnel and cybersecurity expertise.
Brad Wheeler, chief information officer and vice president for information technology at IU, says the agreement will help both partners further develop cybersecurity expertise in the state. IU says NSWC Crane’s research and development is supported by networked technologies which makes cybersecurity a top priority.
"The Department of Defense is undergoing a transition in the framework they use for information security and NSWC Crane’s mission is critically important to national security, so this is a huge opportunity for CACR to contribute,” said Craig Jackson, chief policy analyst at CACR and one of the co-leaders of the collaboration. "NSWC Crane and the CACR both recognize that cybersecurity is an inherently interdisciplinary field, and we can’t fully address the cyber problem from isolated silos of expertise."
The agreement, known as the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement, is being considered the initial phase of a long-term partnership aimed at addressing cybersecurity. IU says a CRADA allows for a partnership between a federal laboratory and academic institutions to study a common area of interest.
This comes less than a week after IU announced it is working with NSWC Crane on researching new ways to test electronic circuitry in platforms for the U.S. Navy. That work is being performed thanks to a $450,000 grant from the Naval Engineering Education Consortium.