• Defense Priorities for Cybersecurity

    This consortium exists to connect the American academic community with the Secretary of Defense to address top cybersecurity priorities. Here, the DoD Chief Technology Officer (CTO) is addressing the Consortium.

  • Coordination Center

    The consortium coordination center is led by Professor Jim Chen, PhD (right) of the National Defense University's College of Information and Cyberspace.

  • Deep Research Expertise

    The vision for this consortium was developed by Dr. Dan Ragsdale when he was serving as the Principal Director for Cyber in the Office of the Director of Defense Research and Engineering.

  • Thought Leadership

    We bring together the thought leaders in the field of cybersecurity for coordination and collaboration.

The Department of Defense University Consortium for Cybersecurity Coordination Center
 

The National Defense University (NDU) College of Information and Cyberspace (CIC) serves as the Coordination Center for the Department of Defense (DoD) University Consortium for Cybersecurity (UC2), also known as UC4. The UC4 Director is, CIC faculty member, Dr. Jim Chen.

UC2 fulfills the legislative requirement of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Section 1659 (Consortia of Universities to Advise Secretary Defense on Cybersecurity Matters). UC4 exists to facilitate 2 way communication between the Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) and academia across the United States.

Key partners on the UC2 effort include the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (OUSD) for Research and Engineering (R&E), the National Security Agency (NSA) Center of Academic Excellence (CAE) Community, and US Cyber Command. The kickoff event for the Consortium took place on December 7, 2021. Please see below for UC4-related documents and information on past events.

 

Information Documents:

NDAA-SEC.1659     

NDAA-1530

UC2 Information Paper

Members of the UC2 Executive Committee lead the consortium and manage the day-to-day business of the UC2. Members of the UC2 Advisory Council lead the effort of identifying the topic areas for the RFIs and selecting the best responses. 

The UC2 Coordination Center (UC4) serves as a liaison between the DoD and academia, to coordinate the requests for information and serve as a clearinghouse for responses. For upcoming updates about the UC2 effort, go to https://cic.ndu.edu/UC2/. The NDU CIC is designated as the Administrative Chair, and is supported by the University of Idaho, which was selected to serve as the UC2 Support Center. In this role, the UC2 Support Center will communicate with NCAE universities, and potential future non-NCAE universities, and maintain response awareness with the UC2 Advisory Council and the NSA NCAE-C PMO.

 

Map

Events

DoD UC2 event flyer

| November 16th, 2022

DoD UC2 Workshop Hosted by CIC.

In June 2022, the Department of Defense University Consortium for Cybersecurity (DoD-UC2)

LEARN MORE →

UC2 | April 28th, 2022

DoD UC2 Workshop

On April 28, 2022, the DoD University Consortium for Cybersecurity Coordination Center (UC4) at the National Defense University College of Information and Cyberspace (NDU CIC) hosted the first UC2 Workshop. The physical location of the event was the Lincoln Hall Auditorium (Room #1230) on the first floor of Lincoln Hall at Fort McNair. Attendees included high-level Department of Defense officials and staff members, the NDU CIC Chancellor, the NDU CIC UC4 team, and presenters from seven universities with a National Security Agency (NSA) Center of Academic Excellence (CAE) designation.

LEARN MORE →

UC2 | 11 March 2022

UC2 Advisory Council

The UC4 team hosted the initial meeting of the UC2 Advisory Council via Microsoft Teams. The council’s goals include attracting a wide scope of input on future RFI topics, judging the responses to the RFIs, and soliciting support, including funding for research or grants, from DoD agencies. Members of the council will also have a role at UC2 presentation workshops, where they will solicit the best ideas from the academic community, and determine which proposals are the most beneficial to their agencies.

LEARN MORE →

UC2 | 24-25 February 2022

UC2 RFI Collection and Evaluation

NSA National Centers of Academic Excellence Program Management Office

As part of the UC2’s RFI collection and evaluation process, a panel of judges was selected to assess the best responses using a rubric developed by the NSA National Centers of Academic Excellence Program Management Office. Members of this office trained the judges on best practices and incorporation of the rubric to guide evaluations during two webinars hosted by the UC4 team. At the end of both sessions, there was a Q&A period.

LEARN MORE →

UC2 | 7 December 2021

UC2 Kickoff Event

The UC4 team at the NDU CIC hosted the inaugural UC2 Kickoff Event. The physical location of the event was the Hill Conference Room (Room #303) on the third floor of Roosevelt Hall at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C. Attendees included members of the Joint Staff J6, the NSA, USCYBERCOM, high-level DoD officials and staff members, a Congressional staff member, the NDU CIC Chancellor, the UC4 Director, and the Director of the UC2 Support Center. The keynote address was given by the Honorable Heidi Shyu, Under Secretary of Defense, Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)).

LEARN MORE →