Associate Research Professor in the Public Policy and Information Schools and Director of the Center for Governance of Technology and Systems (GoTech) Charles Harry was awarded a $150,000 Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII) Grant from the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) to take the TAPESTRY program to the next level.
The grant is highly competitive and will support GoTech’s next stage of development of TAPESTRY, a software program that enables clients to measure the strategic risk of cyber attacks on their organizations. The Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM) previously won a $115,000 grant from TEDCO, awarded to Nancy Gallagher and Charles Harry as co-inventors, that contributed to developing TAPESTRY’s theoretical framework. During this time period, TAPESTRY was tested by Fortune 500 companies and government clients to categorize and measure the consequences of cyberattacks.
With the new grant, TAPESTRY will head into the commercialization phase, which entails the software being screened by entrepreneurs to prove that the technology is viable and marketable. “It’s effectively Shark Tank,” Harry said, referring to the television show on ABC in which investors give budding entrepreneurs the chance to secure business deals to make their ideas reality.
“The MII grant for TAPESTRY is a clear example of the School of Public Policy moving research on something that is highly relevant and applicable into the real world,” said Harry.
TEDCO is an independent instrumentality of the State of Maryland that facilitates the creation of businesses and supports their growth in all regions of the State. The MII program is designed to promote commercialization of research conducted in partnership universities, of which the University of Maryland is a member, and leverage each institution’s strengths.