{"id":185297,"date":"2026-02-06T11:41:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T16:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/06\/2-9-million-in-federal-funds-expands-florida-polys-cybersecurity-lab\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T05:50:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T10:50:17","slug":"2-9-million-in-federal-funds-expands-florida-polys-cybersecurity-lab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/06\/2-9-million-in-federal-funds-expands-florida-polys-cybersecurity-lab\/","title":{"rendered":"$2.9 Million in Federal Funds Expands Florida Poly’s Cybersecurity Lab"},"content":{"rendered":"

$2.9 Million in Federal Funds Expands Florida Poly’s Cybersecurity Lab<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.lkldnow.com\/2-9-million-in-federal-funds-expands-florida-polys-cybersecurity-lab\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Publish Date: 2026-02-06 11:41:00<\/a><\/p>\n

Source Domain: www.lkldnow.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Author: <\/a><\/p>\n

Using an unordered list, summarize the following article with between 4 and 8 key points. <\/p>\n

4-minute read<\/p>\n

Florida Polytechnic University has received $2.9 million in federal funding to create a new cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI) facility designed to expand hands-on training for students in Polk County.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The funding will support the university\u2019s Public Service Applied Innovation Laboratory (PSAIL) in Florida Poly\u2019s student-powered Security Operations Center (SOC) launched this fall.<\/p>\n

The lab adds a public safety-focused AI research lab tied to Florida Poly\u2019s partnership with the Polk County Sheriff\u2019s Office\u2019s (PCSO) AI Investigation Unit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis investment empowers our students and faculty to lead in the development of real-world cybersecurity and AI solutions,\u201d said Florida Poly President Dr. Devin Stephenson.<\/p>\n

Also read our companion article<\/p>\n

What 2.9 million unlocks<\/p>\n

This funding will help the SOC expand to the second floor of the university\u2019s Gary C. Wendt Engineering Center. Florida Poly\u2019s SOC has already given students experience with threat identification, product development, and code and internal policy reviews \u2014 replicating the work of professional security analysts.<\/p>\n

PSAIL will support cybersecurity monitoring, network operations, applied AI prototyping, and targeted research projects tied to real operational needs. Students may help identify suspicious login attempts, unusual activity on university devices, or phishing emails \u2014 then work with mentors to investigate what happened.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe focus will be on practical problems where students can see how their work makes a difference,\u201d said Cole Allen, Florida Poly\u2019s Vice President of Information Technology and CIO.<\/p>\n

\u201cPSAIL gives us the space, infrastructure, and tools to expand that model, add network operations, and integrate applied research alongside day-to-day security monitoring,\u201d Allen said.<\/p>\n

This funding will help the SOC expand to the second floor of the university\u2019s Gary C. Wendt Engineering Center. Florida Poly\u2019s SOC has already given students experience with threat identification, product development, and code and internal policy reviews \u2014 replicating the work of professional security analysts.<\/p>\n

PSAIL will support cybersecurity monitoring, network operations, applied AI prototyping, and targeted research projects tied to real operational needs. Students may help identify suspicious login attempts, unusual activity on university devices, or phishing emails \u2014 then work with mentors to investigate what happened.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe focus will be on practical problems where students can see how their work makes a difference,\u201d said Cole Allen, Florida Poly\u2019s Vice President of Information Technology and CIO.<\/p>\n

\u201cPSAIL gives us the space, infrastructure, and tools to expand that model, add network operations, and integrate applied research alongside day-to-day security monitoring,\u201d Allen said.<\/p>\n

Allen said the SOC program has already demonstrated that students can play a meaningful role in real cybersecurity work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPSAIL strengthens connections between students, employers, and public-service partners in the region, helping create a pipeline where talent can stay, grow, and contribute to the local economy after graduation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interior lobby of the Gary C. Wendt Engineering Center with curved wood ceiling panels, seating areas, and large windows. | Courtesy Florida Polytechnic University<\/p>\n

Cybersecurity as a growth industry in Polk<\/p>\n

Local employment in Polk County remains concentrated in retail, health care, and transportation \u2014 fields that traditionally pay less than high-demand technology jobs, according to the United Community Indicators dashboard.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Regional economic development efforts also highlight research and technology as growing areas of opportunity: Polk is part of the Florida High Tech Corridor, and local development organizations are focused on attracting high-skill, high-wage industries and job creation, according to the Central Florida Development Council.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With federal funding now scaling the PSAIL program, university leaders say the lab positions Polk County to grow a stronger pipeline for high-skill, high-wage cybersecurity, and AI careers.<\/p>\n

\u201cFlorida Poly\u2019s continued growth and excellence have made it a key innovation hub here in FL-18,\u201d said U.S. Rep. Scott Franklin of Florida\u2019s 18th Congressional District, who championed the federal investment.<\/p>\n

Polk County Sheriff\u2019s Office partnership expanded<\/p>\n

PSAIL builds on the ongoing collaboration between Florida Poly and PCSO, to combat AI-related crime. Faculty and students from the university have been assisting PCSO\u2019s AI Investigation unit with technical expertise, research support, and tool development to help the agency better analyze and respond to AI-driven threats.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe new PSAIL initiative further bridges the gap between the classroom and the real-life applications and systems, creating a pipeline for cutting-edge research that enhances officer safety and investigative efficiency and effectiveness,\u201d said PCSO\u2019s director of communications Scott Wilder.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He added the partnership has already helped students and faculty develop \u201csafe, ethical AI tools,\u201d designed for public safety use cases, including systems that can run securely on-site without relying on cloud services.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis collaboration doesn\u2019t just provide us with innovative tools; it helps develop a highly-skilled workforce right here in Polk County that is prepared to lead the future of public service, secure technology,\u201d Wilder said.<\/p>\n

Insight Polk examines community conditions and solutions in six target areas from\u00a0UCIndicators.org: economic & employment opportunity, education, housing, food security, transportation & infrastructure, and quality of life.<\/p>\n

LkldNow\u2019s Insight Polk independent reporting is made possible by the\u00a0United\u00a0Community Indicators Project with funding by GiveWell Community Foundation & United Way of Central Florida. All editorial decisions are made by LkldNow.<\/p>\n

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$2.9 Million in Federal Funds Expands Florida Poly’s Cybersecurity Lab https:\/\/www.lkldnow.com\/2-9-million-in-federal-funds-expands-florida-polys-cybersecurity-lab\/ Publish Date: 2026-02-06 11:41:00…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":185298,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.lkldnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GCW-exterior-1-scaled.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[26,20,24,25],"class_list":["post-185297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cybersecurity","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-cybersecurity","tag-phishing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185297"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=185297"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185297\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":185299,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185297\/revisions\/185299"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/185298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=185297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=185297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=185297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}