A $3M allocation will be used to establish a Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (CCE) at Massachusetts-based Springfield Technical Community College at Springfield Union Station.

Funding, made possible through Congressionally Direct Spending (CDS) from the Department of Education, will be used to establish the CCE, which will be developed and operated in collaboration with the MassCyberCenter, and serve as a regional CCE for western Massachusetts and beyond. The project brings together a consortia of area higher education institutions, business and civic leaders and facility professionals. The CCE will provide hands-on training and professional opportunities for students to develop a career in the burgeoning cyber workforce and will be an integral part of the Massachusetts Cybersecurity Consortium.

Under guidelines issued by the Senate and House Appropriations Committees, members of Congress requested CDS funding for projects in their state for Fiscal Year 2023. CDS requests were restricted to a limited number of federal funding streams and only state and local governments and eligible non-profit entities were permitted to receive CDS funding.