ESU Takes Its Place In Pennsylvania Cyber Security Commercialization Project

East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania will join Carnegie–Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania State University, and Lehigh University in a two–year pilot project that will encourage and assist entrepreneurial students working on cyber security projects.

The Pennsylvania Cyber Security Commercialization Initiative (PaCSCI) Project is being funded by the PA Department of Community and Economic Development and coordinated through the Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse (PDG). Each participating university will receive $40,000 over two years in Cyber Security student project support. The goal of this pilot project is to "kick-start the creation of Cyber Security companies in Pennsylvania."

To accomplish this goal, PDG will encourage and assist entrepreneurial students working on cyber security projects at the five pilot universities. A key element of this–project is that it provides student project teams with a defined path toward product commercialization and company formation. The grant covers the conceptual development of the business and preliminary development of the business plan and marketing strategy.

"This is an exceptional opportunity for East Stroudsburg University to work closely with these nationally recognized universities," said ESU President Robert J. Dillman. "This initiative will address the growing need for the creation of cyber security businesses. The products and services they will provide represent a significant opportunity for economic development in Pennsylvania."

"The students in ESU's computer science and computer security programs certainly have an advantage in this arena given that our institution is the first in the nation to have an accredited undergraduate computer security degree program" he said.

The success story BackboneSecurity.com, the first company to establish itself in ESU's Business Accelerator, and subsequently certified by the National Security Agency is indicative of ESU's commitment to the advancement of cyber security.

At ESU, the department of computer science has identified 6 student teams to participate in the project. In the conceptualization phase of this program, student project teams will receive funding to purchase or lease necessary hardware and/or software to create a functional product prototype or to conduct a commercial market study or market research data relevant to the project or market.

At the end of Spring Semester 2004, an internal evaluation of the supported projects will be carried out to select those projects for advancement. Projects considered to be meritorious will be presented to an external review panel consisting of public economic development agencies, commercial entities, the PDG project team, business/technical experts and others for next–stage funding.

A limited number of student projects from the five pilot schools will be selected to move on to the commercialization phase and placed on the path toward business formation and seed funding. The intention of this phase is to select projects most likely to lead to new commercial endeavors. Commercialization funding will be awarded to merited projects to carry them through company formation and technology commercialization and prepare the new company for Seed or Series A funding.

Grants for the conceptualization and commercialization phases will support student projects in individualized ways with funding amounts and spending categories dictated by the needs of the projects. Available funds are limited to pre–approved spending categories and will be subject to restrictions as provided under the master Commonwealth of PA DCED grant.

The third and final stage of PaCSCI is the productization phase, which is to prepare young companies for their first infusion of professional capital. For more information contact ESU Professor Richard Amori, Chair, Computer Science Department, at (570) 422–3779.