CIT establishes public / private sector teams to develop and deploy solutions – solutions that address regional and national challenges by producing innovative and marketable solutions. The CIT research and development (R&D) group accomplishes this by identifying strategic opportunities and building and managing competent and capable teams that design and implement solutions.

Currently, CIT R&D is engaged with:

• Managing the Commonwealth Research Commercialization Fund (CRCF), which invests in research and commercialization at Virginia colleges and universities, companies, political subdivisions, and federal labs and other research institutions in their efforts to advance technology and drive economic growth in the Commonwealth.
• Developing the Commonwealth Research and Technology Strategic Roadmap with Virginia’s technology community. The Roadmap is a strategic planning tool that identifies key industry sectors with commercial promise and worthy of institutional focus and economic development for Virginia. Providing the basis of the industry assessment is the Commonwealth Innovation Index, a community initiative spearheaded by CIT in which regional strengths, priorities, gaps, and solutions to those gaps were identified in order to increase technology company formation and attraction in the Commonwealth.

CIT R&D also develops and executes federally-funded research programs targeting the areas of defense and national security, renewable energy, and marine sciences. CIT R&D’s current and recent projects include:

• Mid-Atlantic Regional Association Coastal Ocean Observing System (MARACOOS), to improve maritime safety and provide data and forecasts for the recreational, commercial, and fishery management communities;
• Mine Safety, to prevent mine disasters and protect miners and emergency personnel if incidents occur, using wireless and sensor technologies; and
• Vessel Tracking, to advance and demonstrate vessel detection technology in support of federal initiatives to detect and track approaching vessels off the Virginia coastline.

Additional areas of CIT focus have included biotechnology, nanotechnology, and information and communications technologies. Past and present CIT funding has come from federal and state organizations, including the Department of Defense (DoD), the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA), the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME).

For more information about how CIT R&D can support your requirements, contact rd@cit.org.