FAIRMONT, W.Va. — Fairmont State University has entered into a new artificial intelligence partnership that will give students in the National Security and Intelligence program more opportunities.
Director Andrew Cahall said their Open-Source Intelligence Exchange (OSIX) and ProWave AI will launch a summer pilot program focused on enhancing open-source intelligence (OSINT) capabilities. The program will run from June through mid-August and will test and evaluate ProWave AI’s Stylo News platform in real-world situations, some for the West Virginia National Guard.
“We select analysts from inside the program, and those analysts have the opportunity to work on real-life problems for the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Justice, and they create intelligence reports to brief them on,” Cahall said.
The program prepares students to deliver real intelligence products to real clients and prepares them for a career in national security and intelligence. This opportunity takes the students out of a book environment and into a real-world, real-time, actual situation.
“We have to make the analysts know what they’re looking for,” Cahall said. “How they can gather what they need for the reports, that way the system can go across the world and bring those reports here.”
Over the summer, Cahall said the students will have additional opportunities from federal officials to work with geospatial intelligence. That is the process of using layered data coupled with precision geolocation and timing to understand human activity or events.
“We’re working with the Department of Homeland Security on getting some additional cyber training for the analysts,” Cahall said. “So, they can come out with relevant work experience, a certificate, and a diploma to set them apart from their peers.”
The program at Fairmont State University is engaging and challenging for the students, according to Cahall. These exercises allow the students to perfect the craft, not just learn and repeat concepts.
“It’s not just book smarts; we don’t want to focus strictly on what we’re seeing between the pages,” Cahall said. “We want to ensure the analysts are getting their feet wet and being able to apply what they’re learning in the classroom and be able to use that as soon as they leave.”
The National Security and Intelligence program at FSU is among the few undergraduate programs of its kind in the country. Graduates pursue lucrative careers upon completion of the program.
“We’ve had students that have gone on to work at the FBI, NSA, and ODNI. There’s a wide variety and a lot of success,” Cahall said.
Story by Mike Nolting, WAJR