Cambridge to Cambridge Competition Support

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

In 2015, as part of a series of cybersecurity initiatives made public by the U.K. Prime Minister and the U.S. President, the two nations announced that MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and the University of Cambridge, would organize a special collaborative competition in cybersecurity dubbed Cambridge2Cambridge. The event took place in 2016 at MIT and the two universities agreed to a follow-on event, to be held in the summer of 2017. Cambridge University will host this event at their campus in the U.K. and the event will include several schools from the United States. Thirty-one U.S. students have been selected based on their performance in a preliminary contest including students from MIT, Carnegie-Mellon University, Columbia University, United States Air Force Academy, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, University of Tampa and University of Puerto Rico. All of the U.K. Centers of Cyber Excellence (sponsored by the Government Communications Headquarters, GCHQ) will participate and represent the U.K. This project promotes international cooperation in cybersecurity, furthering relationships between countries and among students. Several private companies with advanced cybersecurity capabilities, including Boeing, BP, Raytheon, BAE Systems, State Farm Insurance and Akamai, will provide mentors for student participants. They will encourage students to consider careers in a field that is intellectually challenging and of critical importance to U.S. and international security. This award is co-funded by the Global Venture Fund from the NSF's Office of International Science and Engineering.