Amid growing interest in cybersecurity, and with the new national Cyber Command located at Fort Meade, Howard County Executive Ken Ulman has appointed a commission to look for economic development opportunities.
Co-chairs of the 13-member commission will be Larry Cox, vice president of SAIC, the private cybersecurity firm in the county's Gateway Business Park, and Richard Roca, the recently retired head of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in southern Howard County.
The other members are officials of other business or computer security firms in the area.
"With Fort Meade, the Defense Information Systems Agency and the newly formed Cyber Command all close by, Howard County is centrally positioned to be a major player in national and international cyber initiatives," Ulman said.
"I think the county is on target forming this commission now," Roca said.