A one-of-a-kind signature event is all set for next week in the CSRA—involving an attorney general, lieutenant governor, state senator, and a Fort Gordon leader in the field of Cyber.
USCA is devoting the week of Feb. 2nd to AI and Cyber Innovation Week 2026. It provides a broad list of cyber and cyber-related activities.
Speakers will include South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette (R), state Senator Tom Young (R-District 24 Aiken County), South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, and BG Mark D. Miles, Deputy Commanding General, U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence and Fort Gordon.
The week will feature both panel discussions and training sessions, beginning with a two-day drone training workshop.
“The graduates of that two-day drone training class will leave with an FAA 107 certification, which is a minimum requirement if you’re flying a drone professionally,” Thomas Scott, Cyber Workforce Development Lead in the College of Science and Engineering, told ABD. “We are also hosting a three-day network traffic analysis course that is being paid for by FEMA. That one will actually be happening on the campus of Aiken Technical College.”
Panel discussions will highlight building the national security and energy workforce of the future and strengthening post-secondary learning and academic collaborations.
“This is all part of our working collaboratively with our partners across the area,” Scott explained. “Our signature event is the CSRA Cyber and Innovation Exchange. That is a dynamic summit that is bringing together national leaders in a variety of topics, including artificial intelligence, cyber security, defense, energy, and workforce development, all for an attempt at collaborative dialog, convening, and partnerships.”
There will be two Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing ceremonies. The first will be on Thursday with Antares Nuclear, a California-based company that develops nuclear microreactors.
“We’re going to sign an MOU with them, where they’re going to bring their engineers and their scientists to our campus,” said Scott. “They’re here this week and next week meeting with our engineering students and our science students, as well as looking to partner on research or maybe even deploying one of those many nuclear reactors here in the greater Aiken area.”
Small modular reactors (SMR) are believed to offer a solution to generating power to operate the nation’s growing system of data centers.
The Friday ceremony is an MOU between USCA and the South Carolina National Guard (SCNG). The agreement covers operations of the Cyber Integration Center (CIC) with the goal of growing the partnership for cybersecurity education, training, and workforce development. Construction of the $145 million, 26,000 square foot facility is underway on the USCA campus.
“We are not waiting until the building opens its doors,” Scott said. “We are working with the National Guard already on doing exercises and training, though that will happen in other campus facilities until that building is fully constructed.
Also on Friday, a panel discussion will bring together leaders in economic development and government. It focuses on innovation as an economic driver. It will feature Teresa Haas, who served as Director of Government and Community Relations at Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS); Jim Tunison, President of the Aiken Chamber of Commerce; Jamie DeMent, South Carolina Council on Competitiveness; Will Williams, President and CEO of Western SC; and Jim Clifford, North Augusta City Administrator.
The Cyber Week activities are open to the public. Some of the events, such as the drone training session, require pre-registration.
The full week’s schedule of events is at www.usca.edu/cyberweek. Registration is also available on the website.
