The US Army Cyber Command is coming to Augusta, Georgia in 2020, a move that could bring up to 5,000 new workers to the region, both military and civilian. Augusta is already home to the Army Signal Corp and its Cyber Center of Excellence at Fort Gordon, which is why hosting the Army-focused TechNet Augusta conference there makes sense. The event has grown exponentially over the past four years and drew over 3,000 attendees to the Garden City back in early August.

During the conference, Unisys kicked off a series of events with the First Annual Trolley Tech Tour, hosted by former Augusta mayor, Deke Copenhaver and Unisys Chief Trust Officer, Tom Patterson, showcasing tech businesses in downtown Augusta.

The trolley picked up civic leaders and conference attendees for a tour of several businesses on Broad Street, in an effort to showcase local tech innovators in hopes of attracting more companies to the area. Stops included Meal Viewer, a digital signage company; Weir/Stewart, an award-winning design studio; the historic downtown Imperial Theater; and R.W. Allen Construction, where Rep. Rick Allen welcomed visitors and talked about the growth of Fort Gordon’s Cyber District. Allen is a big advocate of rebuilding downtown and says, "With the growth of Fort Gordon’s Cyber Center of Excellence, Augusta is going to experience a big boom in business. Cyber and the cyber industry is the greatest economic development opportunity probably in the history of this district."

The next day, the TechNet conference featured a panel discussion in which Unisys’ Tom Patterson discussed the importance of promoting the Fort Gordon Cyber District, as well as Unisys’ involvement in the Augusta community. Unisys opened a Managed Service Center in October 2015, supporting several customers, including the Army Enterprise Service Desk. “We’ve brought in over 200 new jobs, giving new life to the old Fort Discovery Building, and expect to double the number of jobs in the next couple of years,” Patterson said.

“Fort Gordon Cyber District” is a term created by a local advocacy organization to describe cyber-related economic development activity in the region. It represents a two-state, seven-county regional economic development initiative that supports defense and private sector technology innovation and growth.