 The city of Fredericksburg is partnering with the Center for Innovative Technology to make Riverfront Park a "smart" location.  Running Headfirst into the Regulations “At DroneUp, we run head first into the rules, not away from them” - Tom Walker, CEO Around the same time Wing was obtaining its Part 135 certification, DroneUp was testing the limits of Part 107 with funding and researchers from the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology (CIT). At the former campus of Saint Paul’s College in Lawrenceville, Virginia, the team conducted 200 drone flights and successfully delivered 1.275-pound payload packages to 10-foot diameter targets on 1500-foot round trips using off-the-shelf commercial tech within FAA Part 107 flight rules. This Operation Last Mile exercise involved 10 pilots working through seven test scenarios, including one dubbed “E-VLOS to determine variables in performance between test operations within visual line of sight of the remote pilot in charge (RPIC), and operations where visual line of sight (VLOS) of the RPIC is occluded by terrestrial obstructions.” Fast forward in time. DroneUp is now routinely conducting short-range final mile deliveries of COVID-19 at-home self-collection kits under Part 107. At locations in Las Vegas, Nevada, Cheektowaga, New York near Buffalo and, more recently, El Paso, Texas, DroneUp is flying home self-collection and contactless at home COVID test kits with a forty-five minute turnaround time from order placement to doorstep. In a little more than seven weeks, the company has racked up 1,340 miles, 114 flight hours in local neighborhoods and hundreds of deliveries.  The City of Roanoke, VA is working with the Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) on a flood sensor project. The city was chosen for the project by CIT due to its history of flooding and the city’s existing flood resiliency efforts.  The new Board appointees are as follows: • Jay Bellissimo, Managing Partner, IBM • David Berteau, President and CEO, Professional Services Council • Jennifer Chronis, Vice President, Federal, Verizon • Ted Davies, Chief Executive Officer, Altamira Technologies Corporation • Damon Griggs, CEO, Dovel Technology • Craig Halliday, Chief Executive Officer, Unanet • Diane Leopold, Chief Operating Officer, Dominion Energy • Paul Misener, VP, Global Innovation Policy and Communications, Amazon • Bob Stolle, President and CEO of Centers of Innovative Technology • Doug Wagoner, President and CEO, LMI • Dr. Gregory Washington, President, George Mason University Mallon is a familiar face: He previously worked for CIT GAP Funds and has now returned to the nonprofit to lead this new division focused on strengthening programs for entrepreneurs throughout Virginia.  State of Virginia - CIT is a nonprofit corporation that invests in technology companies within the state. The Entrepreneurial Ecosystems Division is one of four the nonprofit recently created as the operating arm for the Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority. Investment, Commercialization and Strategic Initiatives make up the other three divisions.  CIT is coordinating a flood sensor pilot project that originated with the Department of Homeland Security. “And the ultimate goal would be to be able to do this throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia,” Kirby told WDBJ7.  The city has partnered with Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology to bring specialized flood sensors to certain tributaries in the city. Chuck Kirby with CIT says that came about thanks to ongoing efforts by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to combat certain natural disasters – including urban flooding.  An arena wired with a range of leading-edge sensors including video, audio, particulate sensors and occupancy detectors demonstrates an essential use case  "Investments in an operating business like Micronic are countering early signals that opportunity funds are focused only on real estate deals." | ImpactAlpha, Nov. 4 – Virginia-based Micronic Technologies raised $3 million for its water purification technology. The Center for Innovative Technology’s CIT GAP Funds and The Pearl Fund led the investment, with participation from CAV Angels.  "BEYOND builds on the success of its forerunner, the UAS Integration Pilot Program (IPP), which was led by the U.S. Department of Transportation and managed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). That three-year program, which ended on Oct. 25, brought together companies, research organizations, state and local governments, and federal agencies on teams focused on high-impact drone-integration projects. Virginia’s selection for the program in 2018 kicked off two-and-a-half years of remarkable progress in a state that already had a reputation as a trailblazer in this field. The state’s team, which will continue in the BEYOND program, is led by the Center for Innovative Technology. The Virginia Tech Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership (MAAP), an FAA-designated UAS test site whose leadership of multiple federal drone projects has propelled the industry forward, has managed the team’s three projects in collaboration with corporate partners Dominion Energy, State Farm, and Wing..."  On Wednesday, the company, based in Southwest Virginia, will announce a $3 million seed round, led by Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology and The Pearl Fund Limited Partnership with participation from CAV Angels. Micronic is the kind of rare company that is seen as critically important and a possible model for future development. It’s a DeepTech company, led by a woman, emerging from a tiny university on the front lines of one of the biggest economic transformations in the United States, as Appalachia and the country’s energy infrastructure move away from coal.  These VC firms span the D.C., Northern Virginia and Baltimore areas. Whether you're seeking seed funding or raising a Series B, there's probably something here to propel your business. (CIT GAP Funds listed) Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. And where there’s a real-world technical challenge, there’s the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) to provide an innovative solution.  By Michael Martz, Sep 15, 2020  Bob Stolle, a former top state commerce official and member of a prominent Virginia political family, has been named the new president and CEO of the Center for Innovative Technology. Stolle, who previously has served as senior vice president of policy and regional initiatives at CIT, will succeed Ed Albrigo, who has led the state-supported technological research initiative for five years and will help the leadership transition through mid-October. https://richmond.com/business/local/former-state-official-named-new-leader-at-center-for-innovative-technology/article_2b37e704-6402-5028-af96-330e9154aafe.html?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter_RTDNEWS
Business Facilities didn’t let the COVID-19 crisis skew the results in our 16th annual rankings report: They remain the most credible and comprehensive location leaderboards.  Virginia was ranked #1 for Cybersecurity, Unmanned Aerial Systems, and Digital Infrastructure; #2 for Business Climate; and #3 for Workforce Development and Offshore Wind...  The broadband network that connects Stafford County schools will soon be used to bring high-speed internet to about 130 private homes in the Hartwood area as part of a new program slated to begin next month.  Fortune 1000 California software company to acquire Pype PUBLISHED JULY 23, 2020BY SYDNEY LAKE Since 2017, Autodesk has acquired Assemble, BuildingConnected and PlanGrid — totaling more than $1.1 billion. Pype has been backed by Blackhorn Ventures, Pritzker Group Venture Capital, Scott Garber and the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship. It has also received funding from the Herndon-based Center for Innovative Technology’s CIT GAP Funds, which are seed-stage investments in Virginia-based technology companies.  “These award recipients are advancing a number of new technologies, such as therapeutics, including those for infectious disease; unmanned systems for agriculture, utilities and smart buildings; and increased cybersecurity for the healthcare industry,” Albrigo said.  RVA's best startups, innovators and stakeholders of 2020 While we’re only halfway through 2020, the tech and innovation ecosystem has provided no shortage of startups and entrepreneurs deserving of Richmond Inno’s highest accolade.  No one is happier than Ed Albrigo with the outcome of Virginia’s long effort to shop the iconic building on 26 acres across the Dulles Toll Road from the Innovation Station stop on the Metro Silver Line. “This is a great outcome for Virginia,” said Albrigo, president and CEO of the CIT, which will become the operating arm of the new Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority on July 1. “The research that can be done with that money is going to be phenomenal.” It’s been a dream of county officials for more than a decade, but there’s new support from the state for Stafford as a Smart Community test site, and a private partner is ready to begin construction on the first phase of the project. The region’s next urban destination might be just right around the corner.  Partners at the state’s Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) spent $100,000 last summer to develop the specifications for this smart downtown.
In announcing the deal last spring, David Ihrie, chief technology officer at CIT, said other communities around the state are excited to learn from Downtown Stafford. “Stafford County is moving ahead at an exciting time in the development of these ideas, and our collaboration will provide one model for how a community can establish a vision for their future and then take the steps towards making that future a reality,” Ihrie said. The state has gone beyond that initial investment to help make Downtown Stafford a test lab for new efforts in public safety technology — work has already started at the county government center to test these new technologies. https://www.insidenova.com/news/business/stafford/downtown-ready-a-distant-vision-for-an-urban-district-is-on-the-fast-track/article_2f3821d8-8bea-11ea-ae1a-af967ee960b7.html To determine how UAS could help medical professionals in their fight to stop the spread of the Coronavirus, DroneUp, UPS and its subsidiary UPS Flight Forward (UPSFF), Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology (CIT), and Workhorse Group recently came together to test the technology in Lawrenceville, Virginia.  Drone-assisted deliveries have often been thought of as the future, but a recent partnership between United Parcel Service (UPS), Workhorse Group, DroneUp and the Virginia Center for Innovative Technology has proven that future is now.  *DroneUp is a CIT GAP Funds Portfolio Company, and DroneUp CEO Tom Walker serves as a CIT Unmanned Systems Advisory Board Member.
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Updated 11/23/20