CENTER FOR CYBER INNOVATION

UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY

UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY

CENTER FOR CYBER INNOVATIONU N I T E D S TAT E S A I R F O R C E

AT T H E U N I T E D S TAT E S A I R F O R C E A C A D E M Y

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CENTER FOR CYBER INNOVATIONU N I T E D S TAT E S A I R F O R C E

AT T H E U N I T E D S TAT E S A I R F O R C E A C A D E M Y

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Cyberspace is the newest frontier for today’s war

fighter, and the cyber programs at the U.S. Air Force

Academy help cadets prepare for its complex future.

Cadets, faculty, industry representatives and partners

from other universities are working together to

address cyber-related problems unique to the U.S. Air

Force. The projects offer design problems for current

cadets, solutions for the Air Force and potential

commercial innovations for industry partners.

The United States Air Force Academy Endowment’s

fundraising efforts will ensure the expansion of the

Academy’s cyber capabilities, reach, and ultimately,

impact. Gifts made to support Academy cyber

programs will equip modern labs, enhance cyber-

related curriculum for cadets, and create the

infrastructure to manage projects for capstone

courses and research opportunities.

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Cyber harnesses the ingenuity

of our more than 4,000 digital

native cadets, innovating ways to

revolutionize our employment of

cyber technologies and directly

influence the capabilities that our

Air Force employs. The partnerships

built here allow us to educate

and train officers who enter the

Air Force ready to keep pace with

rapidly changing technology and

effectively integrate operations

in all three mission domains: air,

space and cyberspace. The future

of cyber is bright with possibilities.

— Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria ’85

2Oth Superintendent United States Air Force Academy

“MISSION 6

CYBER INNOVATION 6

PILLARS OF EXCELLENCE 8

OVERVIEW

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MISSION

The U.S. Air Force Center for Cyber

Innovation educates Air Force cadets

while simultaneously partnering

with industry, operational units and

academia to solve cyber challenges

facing our nation.

CYBER INNOVATION

The U.S. Air Force Center for Cyber

Innovation will bring together Air

Force CyberWorx, the Department

of Homeland Security’s Center

of Innovation and the Academy’s

Department of Computer and

Cyber Sciences under one roof. This

collaborative force will attract a

variety of problem solvers — cadets,

industry leaders, academics and

military operators — to educate,

design and develop effective

solutions for the war fighter.

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PREPARING OUR NATION’S WAR F IGHTERSThrough human-centered design and leading edge research and development, cadets have

the opportunity to work with military operators and real-world practitioners, creating teaming

environments that will help develop leadership skills for their Air Force careers. They are exposed

to the foundations of the Air Force: determination, risk taking, innovation and collaboration.

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PILLARS OF EXCELLENCEModern warfare is being radically

transformed by rapidly evolving advances

in cyber innovation. In order to maintain

military superiority in an increasingly

complex world, the United States armed

forces must dominate the fields of cyber

research and development.

The U.S. Air Force Center for Cyber Innovation

is melding military, academic and industry

expertise to solve critical cyber problems

and redefine cyber paradigms in the process.

The four pillars of excellence support

the foundation of the Academy’s rapidly

expanding Center for Cyber Innovation.

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PILLAR 1

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

The U.S. Air Force Center for Cyber Innovation

will provide state-of-the-art classroom and

laboratory spaces for cadets to explore

advanced computer and cyber science

concepts. Classrooms and collaborative spaces

provide areas to expand the curriculum beyond

technology into the realms of policy, strategy

and legal domains. The facility will house and

build upon the capabilities of the CyberCity

laboratory, which allows cadets to explore the

security of industrial control systems. 9

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O V E R V I E W 0 1

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PILLAR 2

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

The U.S. Air Force Center for Cyber Innovation will

support critical research in areas such as augmented

and virtual reality, multi-domain command and

control, artificial intelligence, autonomous systems,

malware analysis and network and system security.

Cadets and faculty will work on solutions for Air

Force and industry problems, such as the ongoing

collaboration between the Academy’s cyber entities

and Intel Corporation. They worked together to

identify uses for Intel’s Software Guard Extensions

(SGX), providing revolutionary system security

worldwide.

PILLAR 3

HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN

Using design thinking methodology, personnel at

the U.S. Air Force Center for Cyber Innovation will

bring together problem owners, stakeholders and

industry and academic experts to develop innovative

solutions to hard problems. In a recent project,

AF CyberWorx was engaged by Air Force Space

Command and Air Education and Training Command

to re-imagine a 21st century training model for Air

Force cyber operators. The outcome of this event

was quickly implemented into the Air Force’s officer

cyber training program.

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O V E R V I E W 0 1

PILLAR 4

PUBLIC / PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP (P3)

A key tenet of the U.S. Air Force Center for

Cyber Innovation is to foster public/private

partnerships, allowing the Air Force to identify

problems and leverage ideas in ways that are

both cost effective and feasible. Through a recent

public/private collaboration, military operators,

cadets and industry partners worked together

to help streamline cyber learning by successfully

designing a commander-focused perspective of

cyber supporting the Air Force Responsive Cyber

Risk Ecosystem Visualization System.

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FINANCIAL SUPPORT

The federal government has allocated $30 million

to help with construction of the new U.S. Air Force

Center for Cyber Innovation facility to house Air

Force CyberWorx, the Department of Homeland

Security’s Center of Innovation, and the USAFA

Department of Computer and Cyber Sciences while

bringing unprecedented research and development

technology to USAFA and the Air Force at large.

The USAFA Endowment is charged with raising an

additional $45 million to assist the missions within

the U.S. Air Force Center for Cyber Innovation

expand capabilities, reach, and ultimately, impacts.

Gifts made to support this effort will equip state-of-

the-art labs, enhance cyber-related curriculum for

cadets and create the infrastructure to foster 21st

century education, research and design.

CONSTRUCT A NEW U.S. A IR FORCE CENTER FOR CYBER INNOVATIONCreate state-of-the-art laboratories,

classrooms, and design space to enhance

the academic, training, design, and

research and development capabilities for

cadets while significantly improving the

public/private partnership opportunities

across the installation.

GENERAL IMPROVEMENTSOutfitting the U.S. Air Force Center for

Cyber Innovation with state-of-the-art

technology will accelerate cyber research

and development capabilities, providing

quicker solutions to critical problems that

are vital to success in modern warfare.

LABORATORY ENHANCEMENTSPrivate funding will help convert

government-funded labs into state-of-the-

art spaces, including hardware, software,

and other technology and equipment. Labs

will focus on:

• Cyber law, policy, digital humanities and ethics

• Cyber security, networking, radio frequency and telecommunications

• Cyber training (2)

• Forensics and reverse engineering

• Immersive environments, data visualization and decision support

• Industrial control and platform security

• Cross-domain command and control

• Robotics and autonomous systems

• Vehicles.

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Cyber superiority is indisputably a

key requirement for the Air Force

and all the U.S. military services.

We are underinvested as a nation

and as an Air Force. We grads

have an obligation to help prepare

our cadets for this battlefield of

the future, in whatever manner

we can — financial contributions,

programmatic suggestions

and commercial collaboration,

if possible — to improve our

capabilities.

— Paul Madera ’78

Co-chair of the Endowment cyber committee

Co-founder at Meritech Capital Partners

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RENDERINGS

RENDERINGS 16

SITE PLAN 26

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RENDERING - CADET LEVEL ENTRY

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RENDERING - EAST APPROACH

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RENDERING - PLAZA ENTRY

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RENDERING - VIEW FROM THE PARADE F IELD

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RENDERING - INTERIOR

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SITE PLAN - NEW BUILDING, LANDSCAPING AND PARKING LOT EAST OF FAIRCHILD HALL

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FACULTY DRIVE

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This innovation ecosystem is intended

to provide unique tools for both

cadets and faculty to continually

push the technological edge.

— Col. David Caswell ’01 Head of the Department of Computer and Cyber Sciences

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