State lawmakers are considering plans to fund supports for Maryland’s cybersecurity and life sciences sectors administered by local economic development agency Tedco.

Universities in Maryland have supported a potential $16m state government program intended to spur local innovation in the cybersecurity and the life sciences sectors, Baltimore Business Journal reported on Thursday. The budget has been earmarked under a bill currently under scrutiny in the state legislature to set up a funding initiative called the Maryland Technology Infrastructure Program. University System of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University have testified in support of the bill. Liz Burger, senior director of strategic initiatives at Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures (JHTV), the university’s commercialisation arm, said expanding Maryland’s innovation infrastructure was crucial to “maintaining a competitive ecosystem.” She argued the benefits of innovation were reflected by JHTV’s record in luring $340m of private funding to its portfolio businesses since 2014, a near-fourfold return on its original investment. Under the proposals, state-run economic development agency Maryland Technology Development Corporation (Tedco) would administer the cash to various public-private partnerships aligned with a number of strategic objectives. These include the development of large “place-making” offices or labs that attract talent and encourage collaboration, as well as programs intended to grow the supply of venture capital and corporate interest in local businesses. Access to research partnerships, physical infrastructure projects and workforce development programs are among the services anticipated to be made available through the program. Kelly Schulz, Maryland’s secretary of commerce, said there was untapped potential in Maryland’s life science and cybersecurity sectors, both of which currently act as key economic drivers for the state. Schulz estimated the life sciences industry employs 42,000 people and generates $17.7bn in economic activity, while IT is credited with sustaining 120,000 jobs and $42bn for the Maryland economy. – Feature image courtesy of Martin Falbisoner under a CC BY-SA 3.0 licence via Wikimedia Commons

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