Lee Watson has a vision, and it's one that's coming to fruition. Yes, Arkansas has just 3 million residents and a low percentage of college graduates. But Watson feels strongly that the state has the workforce, military connections, private investment opportunities and infrastructure to take advantage of a global industry that's predicted to produce 3.5 million job openings by 2025.
That industry is cybersecurity.
By 2030, the cybersecurity market is expected to be worth $500 billion. Enter Arkansas-based Forge Institute, which has partnered with the University of Arkansas System, Arkansas Economic Development Commission, Little Rock Air Force Base and other entities to transform this state into a cybersecurity hub.
Prior to founding Forge, Watson was the founding chief executive officer and a board member of The Venture Center, a business incubator that has earned national attention in the financial technology sector.
"At The Venture Center, I was able to watch the state's emerging tech scene," Watson says over lunch in downtown Little Rock. "We had achieved much of what I set out to do there, and I started to think about what was next. It was at that point I really got interested in cybersecurity. We put together a group of stakeholders and began making trips across the state to get a sense of what was going on in this area."
Forge developed the American Cyber Alliance in 2018 as a public-private partnership to reduce risks through innovation and workforce development. In 2019, Watson helped lead efforts to convince the Legislature to pass the Arkansas Cyber Initiative. Its goal was to develop cybersecurity capabilities and partnerships across the state. The bill was signed into law by Gov. Asa Hutchinson in May 2019.
In October, Forge's annual Arkansas Cybersecurity Summit drew almost 300 industry leaders to a two-day event.
"This was so important for the state of Arkansas," Watson says. "Cybersecurity is a rapidly growing revenue stream for the state's economy. It was gratifying to see so many people in the public and private sectors on the same page. This nation is exposed each day to hundreds of thousands of cyber-related crimes.
"Arkansas is already a hub for logistics, agriculture, data science, fintech and health care. Our goal is to protect those vital industries while also making Arkansas the nation's benchmark state for all things cybersecurity."
The theme of the conference was "Developing Arkansas as the Cyber Defense State." Watson believes cybersecurity should be a piece of the state's overall economic development strategy. He says Arkansas also should be among the states considered for computer-chip manufacturing facilities. Watson, I've learned through the years, is one who dreams big.
"Cybersecurity is one of our fastest-growing economic sectors," he says. "Everything is connected to the Internet these days. That means there are tremendous job opportunities being created. If you're a forward-looking state, how can you not make that a key part of your economic development strategy? Once we start thinking differently as a state about what constitutes economic development, the opportunities for Arkansas will be endless."
Earlier this year, Forge announced that it had been selected by the U.S. Small Business Administration as one of three grant recipients from the Cybersecurity for Small Business Pilot Program. The funding will allow Forge's Arkansas Cyber Defense Center to expand its services. The center trains small-business owners on how to implement cybersecurity initiatives and how to interact with law enforcement.
During the first year of the grant, the center will conduct 260 assessments for at least 130 small businesses. Joint awareness campaigns and training will be conducted in collaboration with the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center.
"Many small businesses are ill-equipped to defend against cyberattacks because they don't have access to resources or knowledge," Hutchinson says. "Empowering small businesses to combat cybersecurity threats during their formative and most vulnerable years is fundamental to mounting an adequate defense to this growing threat. The Arkansas Cyber Defense Center will provide small businesses with the necessary resources to create and maintain front-line defenses against attacks."
Student interns will be hired from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
In April, Eric Wall was named the chief information security officer for the University of Arkansas System. The newly created position is charged with unifying and maintaining information technology security efforts across all 22 campuses, divisions and units within the system. In August, Wall was named to Forge's advisory board.
"I believe Forge Institute's work is helping make Arkansas a rally point for all things cyber," Wall says. "Cybersecurity has no borders, so there's no reason Arkansas cannot become the Silicon Valley of cybersecurity. I'm excited to work with Forge to help make this a reality."
"Eric knows the threat our research universities face from adversaries seeking to steal intellectual property," Watson says. "He also knows the plethora of other threats the academic community faces. Eric's commitment to partnerships will help defend Arkansas' research assets."
And if Arkansas can become the Silicon Valley of cybersecurity along the way, all the better.
Senior Editor Rex Nelson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He's also the author of the Southern Fried blog at rexnelsonsouthernfried.com.