LSU, Port of South Louisiana Agree to Advance Cyber Talent, Protect Critical Infrastructure
LSU and the largest ports in Louisiana announced a partnership to develop cybersecurity talent and technology for critical infrastructure.
The collaborative effort connects the university’s growing strengths in cybersecurity to the ports’ pivotal role in the global supply chain and in securing food, energy, goods and materials for the nation and world.
The agreement between LSU and its port partners outlines opportunities for students and faculty to work with the ports to solve ongoing and emerging cyber challenges. It includes the potential development of cybersecurity testbeds, which are controllable cyber environments for experiments, and joint research to protect port systems as well as broadened collaboration with state and federal security and law enforcement agencies. Primarily, the partnership unites university and port assets to support homegrown cyber talent development for Louisiana.
“Like our students and research expertise, Louisiana’s port system impacts every corner of the state and has national and global reach,” said LSU President William F. Tate IV. “The Scholarship First Agenda elevates domains that meet citizens’ most pressing needs and define Louisiana’s role in the world. These areas: agriculture, biomedicine, coast, defense—including cybersecurity—and energy all converge in Louisiana’s ports. Our designation last year by the National Security Agency, or NSA, as a Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Operations, or CAE-CO, positions us as one of the best and most technical cybersecurity schools in the country, and we’re now connecting our talented students and experts with our friends here at Louisiana’s ports to tackle cybersecurity and critical infrastructure challenges across Louisiana.”
