Virginia Economic Review

VEDP Vice President of Knowledge Work Meghan Welch spoke with Steven Chen, the founder of PFP Cybersecurity, about the cybersecurity funding environment in Virginia.

Cybersecurity attacks are evolving at rapid speed, and the U.S. lacks sufficient professionals to address them.

Recently, an Air Force research agency reached out to George Mason University (GMU) with a pressing issue. Drones were attacking Air Force facilities around the globe.

Virginia's proximity to the federal government and the wealth of private technology leaders headquartered in the Commonwealth have helped its workforce rise to the forefront of the cybersecurity industry.

In an increasingly digital world where data breaches, ransomware attacks, and other cybercrimes are pervasive, a skilled cybersecurity workforce is more important than ever. Yet the industry grapples with a significant worker shortage.

Labor shortages have long been a challenge in agricultural operations, spurring innovative new ways of operating. Today’s farms rely as much on GPS-guided technology and artificial intelligence-driven automation as they do on manual labor.

Expertise in grapevine grafting and propagation, basic tractor repair, fermentation, and wine racking aren’t exactly skill sets that are widely found among the general population. Yet they are skills upon which the more than 800 wineries, breweries, cideries, and distilleries in Virginia depend.

Cyberattacks that can drain bank accounts and steal personal data are high on the list of things that keep Virginia business owners and government officials up at night. A University of Maryland study found that hackers launch cyberattacks every 39 seconds. The good news?

Vernon Green had a hiring problem. Eight years ago, the U.S. Army veteran founded GCubed, Inc., which provides IT and cybersecurity services. The company, based in Stafford County near Fredericksburg, soon ran into an obstacle: It had plenty of work, but not enough employees to handle the work.

Broadly speaking, technology fields have a diversity problem. A recent Harvard Business Review article cited slow diversity improvement in the industry over the past several years.

Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) stands poised to help train a growing regional tech workforce, offering a range of technical associate degrees and certifications for in-demand technology jobs.

One Virginia company’s vision of how we grow our food may sound like science fiction. But it’s getting an unusual assist from a unique partnership forged by VEDP’s International Trade Division.

Dr. Anne Kress is president of Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA), the largest public educational institution in Virginia and the second-largest community college in the United States.

In the spring of 2018, Kristen Wilson wanted to jump back into full-time work after spending several years at home with her two children.

Several Virginia higher education institutions now offer courses to help students and working professionals learn how to use data to inform decision-making and solve problems — and some are helping to shape research that could ultimately impact medical, financial, and numerous other fields.

Companies Find Tech Talent in the Mountains and Valleys of Virginia Big cities have long been synonymous with economic opportunity. But what if that's not universally true?

Timothy D. Sands is the 16th president of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, joining the university in June 2014. VEDP’s President and CEO, Stephen Moret, recently spoke with President Sands about exciting new developments at Virginia Tech.

How Virginia's Plan to Double its Tech-Talent Pipeline by Aligning Resources at All Levels Hits the Bull's-Eye When it comes to building a comprehensive strategy for increasing talent to meet the technology workforce demands of today and tomorrow, there is a nationwide call by employers for talent with skills that include a particular focus on software development, engineering, machine learning, artificial intelligence, user experience design, and user interface design — all competencies with roots in computer science.