Bob McDonnell announces public-private partnership between state and private cyber industry

Isn’t a public-private ‘partnership’ semi-socialism? Not if it’s a Republican politician who is sponsoring/establishing the partnership!

On Thursday, Gov. Bob McDonnell announced the “Semper Secure” partnership between the Virginia state government and Virginia’s private cyber security sector. Hopefully the partnership won’t be as lackluster as the name “Semper Secure”!

McDonnell’s news release announcing the partnership stated that a number of cyber security issues will be focused on, including: workforce availability, workforce preparedness, and “fostering entrepreneurship” (of course!).

A so-called independent board of directors will steer the public-private partnership and report on an annual basis to the governor. The board will consist of cyber security experts from government and private industry. 

Two of the participating companies include Virginia’s favorite company to waste money on, Northrop Grumman Corp and NetApp.

But it is clear that the public and private sectors cannot stand alone in this increasingly complex world of cyber crimes that has arisen in parallel with the more positive aspects of cyber technology. Cyber security threats, after all, are targeted at both the private and public sectors.

If I dare to dream then maybe, just maybe, Virginia can finally become a national leader in something positive, namely Virginia’s ability to create and maintain a strong public-private cyber security relationship.