Cyber Town USA

[LouisianaRush]

Why a Silicon Valley venture fund thinks Baltimore can be an East Coast tech hub


An artist's rendering of Baltimore's planned Port Covington redevelopment project, jointly funded by the City of Baltimore and Under Armour founder Kevin Plank. A small group of cybersecurity executives have said they will relocate to Port Covington, hoping to build the area into a world-class hub for technology jobs and innovation. (Weller Development) ((Courtesy of Weller Development))

By Aaron Gregg
Washington Post
Reporter covering defense contractors and Washington-area businesses
October 18 at 10:00 AM

For now, Baltimore’s Port Covington doesn’t look like much. Construction is just beginning on a multibillion-dollar development spearheaded by Under Armour founder Kevin Plank, who wants to build a bustling waterfront business center that will bring high-paying jobs and world renown to a now-blighted section of South Baltimore.

Central to those plans is a new effort to attract cybertech companies to the city as part of a branding initiative dubbing the area “Cyber Town USA," executives involved with the development said in a recent briefing.

“Cyber Town will become its own sort of ecosystem within Port Covington, and within the first phase of construction,” said Steven Siegel, a partner at Weller Development, which is overseeing the project.

Siegel says his company has set aside space in Port Covington’s Rye Street Market, a mixed-use property that includes about 180,000 square feet of office space for the project, complete with a private fiber-optic cable system.

Recruiting for the effort is led by DataTribe, a start-up incubator known for building tech start-ups around technology and know-how from the CIA and NSA. On Thursday the incubator announced it will leave its home in Fulton, Md., for Port Covington when construction on the project is complete.

DataTribe has made a name for itself seeding venture-backed security start-ups including Enveil and Dragos, both of which have drawn heavily on the NSA for engineering talent. Founder Mike Janke, a former Navy Special Forces operative who founded the encryption company Silent Circle, says he is engaged in negotiations with 28 cybersecurity-related businesses that are considering moving to Port Covington. He declined to note which ones, saying they are to be announced in tranches as the project nears completion.

More at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...=.8278508c8730

[LouisianaRush]

More on Port Covington:
https://pc.city/#e8


From: https://thedailyrecord.com/2017/04/1...re-renderings/


From: http://data.baltimoresun.com/news/port-covington

[cannedairspray]

Maryland has like three times as many cyber security employees as the rest of the country combined. With Fort Meade being right there, this is something Baltimore should've done a decade ago, but there's no time like the present. My house is a ten minute walk from there, so I'm a fan.