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(Des Moines, IA) -- A proposal ready for debate in the Iowa House would give $2.5 million to the State Board of Regents to help build a cybersecurity simulation training center at Iowa State University.
"This complex would use scenario based exercises to prepare the students for a cyber workforce," said Representative Ray Sorensen, R-Adair.
Iowa State University says the proposed center, or CySim, would be a "cybersports" complex. CySim would take students through different scenarios to learn how counter cybersecurity threats and mitigate the damage from an attack.
"The problem we're trying to solve is cyber attacks are threatening and hurting our manufacturing, our agriculture, critical infrastructure, hospitals, healthcare systems, our schools," said Sorensen.
House File 139 requires the center to be open to businesses, state agencies, students and educators, supporting:
- Cybersecurity training exercises
- Case studies
- Student events and competitions
- Training exercises for educators
- Cybersecurity workforce development
Sorensen said once the facility is running, the state will be "churning out experts in cybersecurity."