Constellation x NCC
Benjamin Jorgensen, the CEO of Constellation, mentioned in the 2020 SOTU that Constellation was involved with National Cybersecurity Center (NCC).
This article aims to provide context surrounding multiple public available data which may or may not be linked to Constellation.
The part we are discussing here is the fragment from 13:15 to 14:30. Watch it on youtube or watch it here.
Keyquote: “We’re already working on initiatives like secure smart cities with the national cybersecurity center out of Colorado Springs.”
First thing we do is check out their website and see what initiatives the NCC is working on -> https://cyber-center.org/
As you can see under “OUR PROGRAMS” the NCC has some pretty interesting programs, like SPACE ISAC, but we are interested in their Smart Cities initiative (as Ben mentioned that is what they are involved in with).
Clicking on “Secure Smart Cities” directs us to https://cyber-center.org/secure-smart-cities/
Keyquote from link: “We’re working diligently with SmartCOS, community stakeholders, and industry thought leaders to create the way forward so that one day we can be a recognized beacon and trusted organization that pushes the advancement in front-end security of ever-evolving smart cities across the world.”
So what is SmartCOS exactly? https://coloradosprings.gov/smartcos
“The City of Colorado Springs (City) and Colorado Springs Utilities (Utilities) have joined together to develop a smart city vision, known as SmartCOS…”
SmartCOS identifies a series of complementary smart city concepts that align with the core values and mission of the City of Colorado Springs (City) and Colorado Springs Utilities (Utilities). This effort advances existing priorities while recognizing that the future of the city and region will be shaped by rapid technological innovation and change. SmartCOS builds ideas around the concepts which are defined by resources, partnerships, and available technologies to provide a strong foundation that will enhance the quality of life, efficient delivery of services, and user experiences.
“In addition, the City and Utilities have partnered with US Ignite, a national non-profit that has developed an ecosystem of other cities pursuing smart technologies across the nation to share lessons learned and best practices. Furthermore, Colorado Springs is one of the founding cities of the Colorado Smart Cities Alliance, which is a statewide, multi-jurisdictional collaboration of public, private, and academic sector leaders committed to accelerating the adoption of smart cities initiatives in their respective communities.”
Who is US Ignite?
“US Ignite is accelerating the smart city movement — and creating value for an entire ecosystem — by guiding communities into the connected future, creating a path for private sector growth, and advancing technology research that’s at the heart of smart city development.”
Constellation also seems like a perfect fit for what US Ignite is doing with their Smart Cities Data Exchange Framework.
“Cities also need to be able to share data in an interoperable and secure way with other cities, adjacent communities, federal/state government agencies, trusted partners, citizens, and application developers.
The Smart Cities Data Exchange framework will detail the processes for: taking data from community development source systems (such as traffic sensor data and affordable housing stock), creating a pipeline for data transformation into a common open schema, merging data from across multiple communities, and serving data through APIs, discovery systems, and visualization tools.” https://www.us-ignite.org/news/us-ignite-atis-complete-phase-one-of-smart-cities-data-exchange-framework/
“The Fort Carson transportation testbed is a $4 million program designed to test the viability of autonomous vehicles and sensor-based technologies in an effort to: reduce military transportation costs, deliver faster services on site, and improve overall public safety. The program is a joint effort of US Ignite, Fort Carson, the city of Colorado Springs,”
There is also a connection between US Ignite and the NSF, basically the NSF funds US Ignite (see link below).
Constellation also has some ties to the NSF:
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Back to the smart city program the NCC works on: https://cyber-center.org/secure-smart-cities/
What is SmartCOS?
“The City of Colorado Springs (City) and Colorado Springs Utilities (Utilities) have joined together to develop a smart city vision, known as SmartCOS. Being a smart city is the concept of deploying advanced technologies to improve public services, drive economic development, and solve issues facing the city.” https://coloradosprings.gov/smartcos
Reading the SmartCOS strategy document you can see that Panasonic is very much involved aswell. https://coloradosprings.gov/sites/default/files/inline-images/smartcos_strategy_final_rdoc.pdf
So:
- Ben mentioned that they are working with the SmartCOS city intiative.
- Panasonic is a key player inside that initiative.
https://na.panasonic.com/us/smart-city-solutions-0
No surprise the DoD is involved.
Join the dots….
Thanks for reading, if anything is unclear please feel free to drop by on telegram here: https://t.me/ConstellationTrader
P.S. I mentioned earlier that Space ISAC is one of the NCC programs. Judging Space ISAC’s linkedin you can see they are a key player inside Space ISAC.
National Cybersecurity Center, a 501(c)(3), is a membership driven community for cyber influencers that are government, private industry, educators and military. NCC operates the Space ISAC’s information sharing and analysis portal, laboratory and fusion center. NCC is closely partnered with our ecosystem to generate a skilled workforce using resources at University of Colorado Colorado Springs, and introduce startups into the community through our partnership with cyber accelerator, Exponential Impact. Our commitment is that Space ISAC addresses cybersecurity as more than just a technology.”
It looks like Constellations technology is a great fit for them:
“Space ISAC collaborates across the global space industrial base to enhance our ability to prepare for and respond to vulnerabilities, incidents, and threats. Space ISAC disseminates timely and actionable information among member firms and serves as the primary communications channel for the sector with respect to this information. Who We Are Our members are part of the commercial space sector and develop space assets, communications equipment, signals, software. They face threats to their operations technology, business systems and missions daily.”
shout out to JP & AJ
