ICIT and West Virginia University Announce Strategic Partnership to Advance Critical Infrastructure Resilience

Morgantown, WV — Nov 12, 2025 — The Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology (ICIT), a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) think tank, is excited to announce its first formal academic and collaborative partnership with West Virginia University (WVU) to accelerate research, education, and drive real-world impact across the nation’s interdependent infrastructure pillars of Energy & Grid, Water & Wastewater, Transportation & Telecommunications.

The announcement was made during the inaugural Mountain State Cyber Summit hosted by WVU Cyber, where the two organizations publicly unveiled their joint commitment. ICIT’s CEO Cory Simpson, a proud West Virginian and graduate of West Virginia University College of Law, attended the Summit and participated in discussions highlighting the importance of ICIT’s mission to modernize, make resilient, and secure critical infrastructure that provides for people’s foundational need — and why cross-discipline partnerships are essential to it. WVU Cyber brings together academic, governmental, industry, and national security stakeholders and is recognized as a leader in national security, cybersecurity, and critical infrastructure education.

This partnership is significant because it brings together ICIT’s national thought leadership and policy expertise with West Virginia University’s world-class research and academic capabilities in cyber infrastructure and applied resilience, evidenced by WVU’s position as a dual NSA/DHS-designated National Center of Academic Excellence. Together, we are strengthening the bridge between research and real-world implementation — advancing innovation, workforce development, and national resilience.

The partnership will focus on collaboration across many of ICIT’s initiatives and projects that strengthen national security, cybersecurity, and critical infrastructure education.

Under this partnership both organizations will be able to:

• Conduct cross-sector applied research and joint proposals in Energy & Grid, Water & Wastewater, and Transportation & Telecommunications.

• Develop educational programs (leveraging WVU’s academic expertise and reach) to equip future infrastructure-defense leaders.

• Engage with government, industry, and academic stakeholders to co-develop projects and policy recommendations that reflect the real-world complexity of interconnected systems.

“As a proud West Virginian and WVU Law graduate, I’m honored to help advance this partnership,” said Cory Simpson, CEO of ICIT. “Partnering with WVU, whose academic rigor, research prowess, and real-world engagement in infrastructure and cyber make it ideal, allows us to move from idea to impact.”

“This partnership formalizes and strengthens our shared mission to advance critical infrastructure and cybersecurity and national resilience through education, research, and collaboration,” said Bill Walker, Executive Director of National Security and Cyberspace Programs at WVU. “Working with ICIT enables WVU to expand its impact nationally while building on our deep commitment to the state and the nation’s security.”

About ICIT

The Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology (ICIT) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) think tank with the mission of modernizing, securing, and making resilient critical infrastructure that provides for people’s foundational needs. Founded in late 2014 and based in Washington, D.C., ICIT serves as a resource for organizations and communities that share its mission. www.icitech.org

About West Virginia University

West Virginia University (WVU) is the state’s flagship, land-grant, R1 research institution. Through its WVU Cyber enterprise, the university is building a system-wide nexus of cyber, data analytics, engineering, policy, and infrastructure research — with national NSA/DHS designations, a statewide mission scope, and strong industry and government partnerships. cyber.wvu.edu