The Department of Homeland Security has partnered with a consortium led by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to establish a new center of excellence to develop critical infrastructure security tools and strategies.
DHS said Thursday the university will host an event Tuesday to mark the official launch of the Critical Infrastructure Resilience Institute CoE.
The CIRI consortium, which comprises 16 U.S. universities, companies and national laboratories, will run the new center as part of a potential $20 million grant awarded by DHS’ Science and Technology Directorate.
The group aims to help facilitate public-private initiatives to strengthen the resiliency of critical U.S. systems against cyber threats through the center.
Matt Clark, director of the DHS S&T Directorate’s Office of University Programs, Bob Kolasky, deputy assistant secretary at DHS’ Office of Infrastructure Protection, and University of Illinois President Timothy Killeen will deliver speeches at the CIRI CoE kickoff event.