Addressing the growing global threat of cybercrime, Governor Martin O’Malley recently joined Maryland’s Congressional Delegation, federal and military officials and business leaders at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg to unveil an aggressive policy report that calls for establishing Maryland as the nation’s epicenter for cyber security.
Developed with guidance from more than 50 public and private sector information technology and security experts, CyberMaryland highlights the State’s key role in supporting President Barack Obama’s national cyber initiative and is the first comprehensive inventory of any State’s cyber security assets. Over the last year, Maryland has led the nation in the creation of computer systems design jobs, growing by 6.6 percent.
Maryland is home to more than 50 key federal facilities and 12 major military installations employing nearly 200,000 well-educated, highly-skilled government employees and contractors, including the Army’s Communication and Electronics Command, which will soon be relocating to Aberdeen Proving Ground. The Defense Information Systems Agency is slated to move to Maryland from Virginia in 2011, bringing 4,300 advanced technology jobs.
In total, Maryland has one of the highest concentrations of technology jobs in the nation, with 10 percent of jobs classified as technology-related and led the nation in 2009 with the largest growth in computer systems design jobs.