Photo Caption: (Left to Right): Phil Venables, Chief Information Security Officer of Google Cloud; Shih-Fu Chang, Dean of Columbia Engineering; Greg Morrisett, Dean and Vice Provost Cornell Tech, Cornell University; Kurt Becker, Vice Dean of Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, NYU; Joshua Brumberg, Dean for the Sciences at The CUNY Graduate Center. Photo courtesy of Google

On June 12, Google announced a four year grant program to provide $1 million a year to four universities in the greater NYC area. The goal of this Cyber NYC Institutional Research Program, is to “bolster NYC’s cybersecurity leadership through University programs.”

As part of this commitment, the company will fund research at The City University of New York, Columbia University, Cornell University (including Cornell Tech and the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science), as well as New York University, through 2025. According to the statement released by NYU on the day of the announcement, the funding will support more than 90 collaborative research projects in areas where “further research could encourage the development of more secure digital ecosystems and inspire innovation.” In addition, the schools can use these funds to help the schools expand and improve their cybersecurity degree programs. The ultimate goal of the program is to fortify the incoming cyber workforce, and also address the diversity gaps in the industry by focusing on recruiting and developing workers from underrepresented groups.

In announcing the project, Phil Venables, Chief Information Security Office for Google Cloud, observed that “The Google Cyber NYC Institutional Research Program will further propel New York as a research leader in cybersecurity, alongside the work of preeminent city institutions like New York City Cyber Command.” He adds that Google is “committed to being bold and responsible stewards of emerging technology like AI” to “make sure the city is prepared as the threat landscape continually shifts.”

Speaking for NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Dean,Jelena Kovačević observed, “Unsecure cyber space is one of the greatest threats to our society and the only way to be sure to create safer information systems, networks and communications is by bringing academia and industry together. This funding from Google will allow our Center for Cybersecurity as well as partners at other NYU schools and across the city to tackle these important threats and focus on a safer future for everyone.”