Collaborations & Community Programs
Building Collaborations.
Strengthening Community.
The following unique collaborations build upon solid partnerships and create opportunity that will transform the lives of American’s, create higher-paying jobs and drive economic growth for local and regional economies - all while better securing our Nation’s critical infrastructure.
Consortium for Cyber Innovation (CCI)
Collaborative partnerships that are shaping the next industry cluster in cyber.
Academic Credit Articulation
Our first academic partner, UA Little Rock recognizes certain Forge Institute professional development courses for academic credit hours towards a Computer Science and Cybersecurity Bachelor's degrees. Each institution has thoroughly reviewed curriculum and mapped academic requirements to corresponding aspects of Forge Institute’s professional development program.
The first Forge Institute course that will be eligible for UA Little Rock course credit will be IT/Cyber Fundamentals. Those participants who successfully complete the Forge Institute course may elect to transfer those professional development courses to UA Little Rock and receive 3-credit hours in the Computer Science CSEC 1310 Intro to Cybersecurity course. A full breakdown of eligible courses can be found here.
Applied Research
This collaboration brings together the best resources, research and capabilities of UA Fayetteville and UA Little Rock, along with the unique capabilities & relationships of the Forge Institute.
Initial university collaborators will be Professor Philip Huff (UA Little Rock) and Dr. Chris Farnell (UA Fayetteville) and will focus on next-generation cybersecurity defensive capabilities for industrial control systems (ICS/SCADA) to further the protection of our nation’s critical infrastructure. The joint team will leverage the capabilities of the National Center for Reliable Electric Power Transmission (NCREPT) testbed at UA-Fayetteville, the UA Little Rock Cyber Gym and the professional and experienced team and capabilities of the Forge Institute.
UA-Fayetteville and UA-Little Rock are designated National Security Agency (NSA) & US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Academic Centers of Excellence. In addition, UA Fayetteville is also a US Department of Energy Center of Academic Excellence.
Ask a CISO
Our “Ask a CISO” program is a unique program that delivers easy, free access to small and medium sized businesses maturing in their cyber risk management structure. Ask a CISO is a panel of 3-5 of the best CISOs across all industries answering questions that you’ve submitted through our easy form.
Arkansas Cyber Defense Alliance
The cyber economic development vision for Arkansas.
The collaboration between Forge Institute and UA Little Rock enables course credit for CSEC 1210 Intro to Cybersecurity. This is truly an exciting and innovative opportunity for the IT workforce in Arkansas.”
— Al Baker, PhD, Chair, Department of Computer Science, UA Little Rock
Collaboration Partners
