$750,000 APPROVED FOR RESEARCH CONDUCTED BY OCALA’S FLORIDA INSTITUTE FOR HUMAN AND MACHINE COGNITION

Washington, Oct 1, 2009 - “The network systems monitoring and controlling our nation’s energy, transportation, chemical, and civil engineering infrastructures are inviting targets for terrorists,” said Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Ocala). “In protecting these networks, I sought funding from the Department of Energy to support the development of new security technology. The House has approved $750,000 for the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition of Ocala for research and development in creating a defense system for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems that safeguard these critical infrastructures.”

Today, the House approved H.R. H.R. 3182, the Energy & Water Appropriations Act of Fiscal Year 2010. The measure includes $750,000 sought by Stearns for SCADA technology and infrastructure protection. The overall goal of this program is to build upon proven, biologically inspired technology to create a system-centric defense infrastructure for SCADA systems that will greatly improve their resilience to environmental effects and malicious attacks.