The 2013 RSA® Conference in San Francisco was five days of learning, networking, and meeting with the thought leaders and visionaries of the cyber industry. It was also a time for Maryland representatives to reconnect with their colleagues on the West coast. This year’s conference had a reunion-like atmosphere for those that participated in the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore’s (EAGB) Executive Mission to Palo Alto.

In October 2011, EAGB brought an experienced team of 40 business and community leaders to Palo Alto. The delegation included senior representatives from state and local government and higher education, along with chief executives from the finance, legal, cyber/IT and life sciences sectors.

The goals of the mission were simple: to learn about the appeal of Palo Alto to companies and employees, foster relationships and partnerships that would develop opportunities for our region and discuss best practices. After three days, nineteen organization visits which included 500 StartUps, CISCO, Stanford University, IDEO and GooglePlex and countless networking opportunities, the group returned back east inspired and motivated by what they had seen and heard.

There were many take aways from the experience: Failure is Okay; Stay hungry; Always be Innovating; and Don’t let fear of risk prevent you from changing the world. Overall this mission emphasized that to succeed as a region, industry, government and education have to foster a supportive, collaborative, and sharing network. Several advancements have been made since in the area of tech transfer and commercialization

“The mission to Palo Alto created the foundation for many of the connections and partnerships I have established on the West coast and it was a catalyst to the growth of the cyber and innovation industry in Maryland” commented Rick Geritz of CyberPoint, who was instrumental in establishing UMBC’s Cyber Hive for new and emerging cyber companies in Maryland. A similar program will open in San Diego, CA.

One of those California connections is Gene Trainor , COO of Foundation Capital, who said, “I am extremely impressed with the EAGB team and progress of the CyberMaryland effort.  A great deal has been achieved in the brief period since their visit to Silicon Valley in the Fall of 2011. The energy and momentum driving innovation efforts and the development of their cyber eco-system is tangible.”

Since 2011, several programs have been created to spur the growth of cyber companies in the state. These include funding support such as InvestMaryland and Orange Knocks, Maryland Technology Development Corporation’s planned $20 million cyber security fund. Regional and national collaborations are evident in the CyberMaryland Conference, and in the launch of the Cyber Security Hall of Fame. Partnerships are being created to promote innovation. An example of this can be seen in the Cync Program where Northrop Grumman and the Cyber Incubator@bwtech, are working together to commercialize technology to protect the nation from a growing range of cyber threats. 

“We are proud of our role in carrying the CyberMaryland flag. It is gratifying to see our cyber industry generating so much excitement at RSA,” stated Tom Sadowski, CEO and President of EAGB. “With the connections established during our Palo Alto mission, the partnerships that have been established, the 19,000 plus cyber jobs in the state and the wealth of resources we have to offer companies, we look forward to the continued growth of cyber in Maryland and ongoing collaborations with our partners here in California.”