Opening Day at the Central Maryland Innovation Hub

From autonomous vehicles to facial recognition, the collaborative opportunities for advancing cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI) are unlimited—and now, within greater reach at Booz Allen’s Central Maryland (CMD) Innovation Hub (iHub).

At the recent opening of our newest iHub, we proudly welcomed employees, leaders, elected officials, clients, and partners. The open and collaborative environment has more than 15,000 square feet of modern workspace and is equipped with Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled appliances. Located in Annapolis Junction, the iHub is in an area some call the “world capital of cybersecurity,” with the National Security Agency (NSA) headquarters just a few miles away.

Representing Maryland’s Second District, Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger kicked off the event, encouraging attendees to keep innovating. He praised Booz Allen’s commitment to “all things cyber,” as well as a tradition of teamwork and how we educate younger generations through innovative internships.

Next, Booz Allen’s Cyber Account Technical Director Greg Starkey moderated a panel focused on artificial intelligence and cybersecurity where Bartley Richardson from NVIDIA—our partner and a leader in accelerated computing—joined Drew Farris and Rachel Allen, data scientists at Booz Allen. The panel participants shared insights around technology safeguards, modernized operations, deep learning, trust, privacy, and how to stay ahead of adversaries with adaptive defense and a smart, strong offense. To make this happen requires constant learning and innovation—which the CMD iHub was built to facilitate.

After the panel, visitors interacted with more than 10 demos—innovative projects that are helping solve some of the nation’s and the world’s most pressing challenges. Here are a few of them:

• AppCritique: With ever-evolving platform APIs, cross-platform requirements, and the pressure of timely delivery there are vast challenges facing mobile app developers every day. AppCritique can help relieve some of the pressures of shipping a great app by providing a second look at potential security threats that may exist. AppCritique finds vulnerabilities, data leaks, and everything in between.

• AI Art Mirror: The AI Art Mirror is an artistic, yet impactful use case for machine learning. Guests posed for photos as our data scientists showed how they have taught a computer to paint the scene in front of it in real-time using the style of a variety of famous artists.

• Defending Against Fake News: Booz Allen recently sponsored Penn State University undergrads and their Senior Capstone Engineering Design award submission, "Defending Against Fake News.” The students developed a sentiment analysis algorithm capable of detecting "fakeness" with about 70 percent accuracy. The team came in second place out of 140 teams, with self-taught Java and almost no prior programming experience.

Collaborating for the Future

These conversations are just a start as the CMD iHub connects minds, hearts, and hands. Stay tuned for collaborative learning and talent development programs, community events, and exciting engagement opportunities.

For questions about the CMD iHub, please contact [email protected].

Learn more about Innovation Hubs