NICE RAMPS Grant 

Cin-Day Cyber Corridor Report

October 1, 2016 - July 30th, 2017

 

Created by:

Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education

3155 Research Blvd, Suite 204

Dayton, OH 45420

p: (937) 258-8890
2

Table of Contents 

Executive Summary.......................................................................................................................................3

Overview.......................................................................................................................................................3

Updates & Accomplishments........................................................................................................................5

Going Forward ..............................................................................................................................................7

Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................................8
3

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Cin-Day Cyber Corridor team continue to achieve all established goals and objectives as set 

forth in the RAMPs Grant proposal. As June ended the team continued progress on phases 2 

and 3 of the approach submitted in the proposal. Some of the highlights include:

➢ Hosted a cyber symposium, a cyber mixer, and 2 roundtables for industry and higher ed

➢ Co-sponsored Ohio Information Security Conference

➢ Held STEM-Cyber Research Fair

➢ Created http://cindaycyber.com/ to house cyber related information including research 

findings and educational program inventory

➢ Acceptance by 3 scholarship recipients to attend the University of Cincinnati and Wright

State University to pursue computer science and cyber security programs

➢ Analysis on the cyber workforce market needs

➢ Nationally recognized Cyber Patriot teams

➢ Cyber Warrior Princess Raspberry Pi and Cyber Patriot camps for K12 students

➢ Trained high school teachers to become college cybersecurity instructors for first-year 

college courses

➢ Collaboration of higher ed and industry to develop workforce

➢ 74 cyber related internships

Going Forward the Cin-Day Cyber Corridor team will continue phase 2 which includes higher 

education cybersecurity academic roundtables, cybersecurity industry regional roundtable and 

research to workplace briefings, cybersecurity internship fairs and employment outreach, and 

more. The goal of phase 2 is to use collaboration to address cybersecurity education and 

workforce development. By the end of phase 2 Cin-Day Cyber Corridor team will gather the 

status of existing cybersecurity degrees, certificates, and training programs as well as identify 

new degrees, certificates, and training programs for development. In addition, the team will be 

able to identify, enumerate and report regional priorities for strengthening cybersecurity 

business growth, and report and share the results of the pilot projects. The team will also 

continue to work on phase 3 of the RAMPS proposal. The goal of Phase 3 is to create a 

mechanism for industry and higher education to collaborate on Career Awareness and Skills 

Development and to increase participation via coaching and mentorship in CyberPatriot and 

related extracurricular Programs.

OVERVIEW

The Cincinnati-Dayton Cyber Corridor (Cin-Day Cyber): A Regional Consortia Approach to 

Cybersecurity Education and Workforce Readiness was formed by SOCHE in cooperation with 
4

the founders of the Cybersecurity Consortium of Southwest Ohio (Air Force Institute of 

Technology, Dayton Development Coalition, University of Cincinnati, University of Dayton, and 

Wright State University), the Dayton Development Coalition (DDC) and the Regional Economic 

Development Initiative (REDI). 

The Cin-Day Cyber Corridor uses the Regional Alliances and Multistakeholder Partnerships to 

Stimulate (RAMPS) Cybersecurity Education and Workforce Development grant to support a

series of “proof of concept” projects piloted and assessed as the primary thrust of the RAMPS 

funding. The goal of these initiatives was to determine which projects produced the greatest 

benefits with the goal of identifying effective initiatives for long-term “full scale” 

implementation that can grow to a region-wide execution concluding the RAMPS grant funding. 

The three strategic phases being accomplished under the RAMPS grant by Cin-Day Cyber are:

Robust data collection on regional cybersecurity workforce needs

a. Cybersecurity workforce market needs and opportunities analysis aligned with NICE 

Framework and cybersecurity jobs heat map

b. Cybersecurity regional educational program inventory and gap analysis

c. Cybersecurity regional expertise and research inventory

d. Cybersecurity policy analysis 

Collaboration among Higher Education Industry, K-12 and Regional Economic Development 

Agencies to broadly and deeply address cybersecurity education and workforce development

a. Higher Education cybersecurity academic roundtable

b. Cybersecurity industry regional roundtable and research to workplace briefings

c. Cybersecurity internship fairs and employment outreach

d. NICE conference participation

Industry and higher education supported cybersecurity career awareness and skills development 

for underserved populations in K-12 schools

a. K-12/CAE/Industry collaboration on career awareness and skills development

b. CyberPatriot mentorship and related extracurricular programs 

These initiatives were intended to specifically address four overall beneficial outcomes. First, 

higher education identifying and addressing the skills needed for business as colleges and 

universities ascertain and develop academic pathways to increase the pipeline of students 
5

pursuing cybersecurity careers. The second benefit of these initiatives is for employers to 

benefit from an increased supply of skilled cybersecurity workers and an educational system 

aligned to their needs. Third, state and local economic development organizations, working 

with area businesses and nonprofit organizations, will benefit by attracting new industries to 

their area to create more jobs. Lastly, K-12 institutions engage students in active learning 

practices that built career awareness around the opportunities offered by the cybersecurity 

professions. 

UPDATES & ACCOMPLISHMENTS

All goals and objectives set forth in the RAMPs Grant Organizer (provided to NIST on January 6, 

2017) for January 1 – June 30, 2017 were accomplished. Below are the activities Cin-Day Cyber 

performed during this period with funding from the NICE RAMPS Grant.

• Grant Planning/Miscellaneous activities

o Conducted status planning meetings to ensure grant deliverables are on 

schedule

o Launched website for Cin-Day Cyber http://cindaycyber.com/

o Joined Ohio Cyber Collaboration Committee (OC3) to help promote cyber

awareness and develop a strong cyber security infrastructure across Ohio

Cyber Workforce Market Needs, Opportunities, and Expertise

o Completed final “Research findings for Cyber Demand” report and posted results 

on website http://cindaycyber.com/

o Created Degree Finder with access to Southwest Ohio colleges and universities

o Ohio Workforce resource page linked via Cin-Day Cyber and RAMPS home pages 

to provide access to cybersecurity regional educational program inventory, gap 

analysis, and expertise and research inventories.

o Added additional information for Southwest Ohio and for combined JobsOhio 

West and Southwest regions

• Higher Ed Activities

o Partnered with Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) to host SOCHE STEMCyber Research Fair to bring industry together with students as they present 

their research findings

o Gathering information from institutions on their ongoing cyber related research 

areas as input to the RAMPs grant goal to create a regional cybersecurity 

research inventory. The research inventory ideally will include a synopsis of 

current research in cybersecurity from every regional college and university. This 

inventory will provide a view into common and unique regional expertise in 

cybersecurity. 
6

o A deeper understanding of university research and expertise in 

cybersecurity will enable Cin-Day Cyber to competitively compete for 

additional research funding. We plan to capture, organize, and 

communicate the depth and breadth of cyber related research in the 

region to facilitate cross-institutional research collaboration and 

strengthen efforts to share relevant cybersecurity research findings with 

industry collaborators.

• Industry/Higher Ed Roundtable

o Hosted Cyber Industry Roundtable on November 9, 2016

o Hosted Dayton Region Military Collaborative (DRMC) Cyber Symposium on

November 10, 2016

o Hosted Cyber Industry/Higher Ed Roundtable on March 9, 2017

o Scheduled 12 September 2017, at Voice of America in West Chester. Key note 

speaker is an Infrastructure Security Manager. Selected location to attract 

Southern region’s institutions and business partners.

• Internships

o Secured 74 cyber related internship at Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT). 

24 of the positions are filled by females and 7 are self-identified as minority.

• Internship Fairs, Conferences & Employment Outreach

o Held Cyber Mixer to bring industry together with institutional cyber department 

heads and career services

o Co-sponsored Technology First’s Ohio Information Security Conference (OISC) 

o Hosted Cyber track:

• Transforming Your User Community for IT Security Adversaries to

Cyber-Mindful Allies: Strategies Tactics and Lessons learned from UD’s 

Safe Computing Campaign

• The Cybersecurity Advisory Board of the Office of the Ohio Attorney 

General Industry experts/business leaders formed by Mike DeWine

• Cin-Day Cyber: A Regional Consortia Approach to Cybersecurity

Education and Workforce Readiness

• Vendor Management – A Cyber Security Perspective

• Developing the Next Generation of Cyber Talent: Panel Discussion on 

Successful Internships

o Presented at National Cyber Summit

o Co-sponsoring Northern Kentucky University (NKU) Cyber Security Symposium 

on 13 October 2017. 

o Hosting session at symposium

o Providing marketing support for event and request for speaker proposals

o Hosting Cyber Internship Fair during NKU Cyber Security Symposium

• K-12 and Higher Ed Outreach
7

o Sponsored Maj Gen Franz, Joint Chiefs of Staff Operations Chief for 

USCYBERCOM to speak at the University of Cincinnati’s Army ROTC 

commissioning and to conduct three professional development sessions with the

graduating cadets, the Cyber Leader Development Program, and CEAS CE/CS and 

Poly Sci cybersecurity students

o Provided 3 scholarships to K-12 students who are pursuing computer science and 

cyber security degrees

o Trained high school teachers to become college cybersecurity instructors for 

first-year college courses that are taught through Ohio's College Credit Plus (CCP) 

program

o Sponsored Cyber Patriot teams which competed at local, state, and national 

levels

o Held Cyber Patriot Camp for 120 K-12 students

o Conducted Raspberry Pi Camp for 44 7th and 8th graders 

o Provided funding for TestOut Certification Exams

o TestOut is a nationwide provider of online certification exams. High School 

students who pass the exams earn industry credentials; these credentials 

help students apply for college internships and entry-level IT positions. 

o Computer Networking (Network Pro Certification) exam: 65% students

passed. The average passing rate for colleges nationally is 70%.

o PC Hardware and Software (PC Pro Certification) exam: 92.86% students 

passed. The average passing rate for colleges nationally is 74%

GOING FORWARD 

Going forward the Cin-Day Cyber Corridor team continues to progress through phase 2: 

collaboration to broadly and deeply address cybersecurity education and workforce 

development. Phase 2 will include higher education cybersecurity academic roundtables, 

cybersecurity industry regional roundtable, cybersecurity internship fairs and employment 

outreach, and more. 

The goals of phase 2 are to utilize the data collected in phase 1 and host higher education 

industry meetings that will review current educational programs and identify new curricula 

offerings with the goal of achieving greater alignment with industry needs and direction. In 

phase 2 the Cin-Day Cyber Corridor team continues to work on a regional collaborative strategy 

that will provide pathways to effectively respond to the cybersecurity gap analysis report. This 

includes the review of existing cybersecurity degrees, certificates, and training programs and 

identifying new degrees, certificates, and training programs for development. 
8

We will host a minimum of one more industry based regional roundtable focused on economic 

development opportunities in the cybersecurity space, and delivery of research to workplace 

symposia. In doing so, the Cin-Day Cyber Corridor team will be able to identify, enumerate and 

report regional priorities for strengthening cybersecurity business growth. The regional 

roundtables and research to workplace symposia will help apply the research universities and 

colleges have done and sets a stage for communication of these findings to industry. 

Already planned and scheduled is the Cin-Day Cyber Corridor hosted cybersecurity internship 

fair at Northern Kentucky University (NKU) Cyber Security Symposium. This will help enhance 

cybersecurity internship offerings and employment opportunities for students into the 

cybersecurity field. In phase 2 the team will also participate in the NICE Conference to develop 

a conference presentation on the results of the “proof of concept” initiatives from the RAMPS 

projects. The Cin-Day Cyber Corridor team will also work on employment outreach during 

phase 2 to report and share the results of the pilot projects to help employers understand the 

current cyber environment for the region. This will let employers better comprehend the 

current cyber pipeline as well as the provide insight on the best courses of actions going 

forward from the “proof of concept” results. 

Phase 3: cybersecurity career awareness and skills development for underserved populations 

will run in sync with phase 2 and will conclude in November 2017. Phase 3 will focus on creating 

a mechanism for industry and higher education to collaborate on identifying curricular foci that 

will map to industry needs and guide youth through college education and be relevant to 

industry cybersecurity workforce needs. In addition, phase 3 will create a sustaining network 

through Cin-Day Cyber to support specific programming dedicated to increasing women, 

minorities, as well as the overall numbers of students from varied educational backgrounds 

entering cyber related college degrees and careers based on research based best practices. 

Lastly, phase 3 will provide coaching and mentorship from industry and higher education 

volunteers to support the CyberPatriot and Cyber Warrior Princess program at the pilot k-12 

schools to build career skills among the youth.

CONCLUSION

The Cin-Day Cyber Corridor RAMPS proposed plan is meeting expectations to date. Phase 1: 

data collection on cybersecurity workforce was completed and phase 2: collaboration to 

address cybersecurity education and workforce development is ongoing. Phase two is planned 

through November 2017. Phase 3: cybersecurity career awareness and skills development for 

underserved populations in k-12 schools will run in parallel concluding in November as well. 

Currently, the initiative is on schedule to finish on time and has gained valuable knowledge and 

insight on the cybersecurity environment in the region thus far. It has allowed industry, higher 
9

education, k-12, and economic development partners to come together in one room and 

discuss the cyber gaps and opportunities of the region. Providing a regional platform to address 

the regions cyber areas of concern, possible solutions, and the best approach moving forward 

and keeping the regional players informed of everything which is ongoing in this space.