(DES MOINES) – Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds today announced that two Iowa high school seniors have the opportunity to receive full scholarships to attend the National Youth Science Camp (NYSC) this summer in West Virgin...

(DES MOINES) - Gov. Terry E. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds today announced in their Monday morning press conference that Gov. Branstad has signed Executive Order Eighty-Seven that will combat cybersecurity threats in Iowa.  Gov. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Reynolds were joined by the Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Mark Schouten and the State of Iowa's Chief Security Information Officer Jeff Franklin.

"As co-chair of the Council of Governors, I know how important cybersecurity is to our state's posture.  With this in mind, I am issuing Executive Order Eighty-Seven which will direct our state agencies to draft a State of Iowa cybersecurity strategy and update Iowa's emergency response plan to better deal with the physical consequences of a cyberattack against the state's critical infrastructure," said Gov. Branstad.

Lt. Gov. Reynolds added, "The State of Iowa has already been working to improve its cybersecurity for quite some time.  However, we know that cyber threats are constant and growing and we must be diligent in doing what we can to protect our state.  Today's executive order will solidify the foundation and work that is being conducted to protect the state against these threats."

In December of 2014, Governor Branstad formed a State cyber working group to expand on the work that was being done at the national level.  That group, comprised of state agencies and key federal and private partners, looked at ways to prevent, detect, respond to and recover from cyber threats in Iowa.  State of Iowa agencies involved in the group were the Office of the Chief Information Officer, Iowa National Guard, Iowa Department of Public Safety, Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, and the Iowa Communications Network.  In addition, the FBI, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, private industry and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center participated in the group.  The results from this group's work are the foundation for this executive order.

Executive Order Eighty-Seven can be read in its entirety here.

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FIRST ® LEGO® League: Come see Local Children Aged 9 to 14 Apply Research and Robotics To Explore the hidden but fascinating world of trash, from collection, to sorting, to smart production and reuse  with FIRST ® LEGO® League "TRASH TREK?" Challenge. The must also invent a solution to help our trash problem and create their own LEGO MINDSTORMS robot to accomplish trash-themed "missions" on a playing field, and show how well they practice FRIST LEGO League Core Values.

FIRST ® LEGO® League Junior: Come see Local Children Aged 6 to 9 discover the hidden (or not so hidden) world of trash exploring the real-world theme of sustainability. Teams will learn about simple machines as they display a model they built of LEGO elements with a motorized part. They will illustrate and present information through a Show Me Poster during the FIRST LEGO League Junior Expos.

The non-profit Quad City Engineering and Science Council (QCESC) is proud to be the organizer for the 8^th annual event hosted at the Putnam Museum & Science Center in Davenport.  Since 2009 when the first QC Tournament was held in Davenport with 13 teams, the program has continued to grow. In 2015-2016, there are 13 FIRST Robotic events being held in the Quad Cities reaching over 150 teams with 1,400 K-12 students supported by 300+ volunteers.

This is a fast-paced, high energy event that will be enjoyed by all ages and expose everyone to the exciting world of robots, engineering, computer program, creative problem solving and most importantly, TEAMWORK!

The events are free and open to the public.  Further information including a listing of 97 teams is available at:  http://www.qcesc.org/FLL/FLL-QC-Davenport-Coaches.html

Background:
Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering. With support from over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies and more than $22 million in college scholarships, the not-for-profit organization hosts FIRST^® Robotics Competition (FRC^® ) for students in Grades 9-12; FIRST^® Tech Challenge (FTC^® ) for Grades 7-12; FIRST^® LEGO^® League (FLL^® ) for Grades 4-8; and FIRST LEGO League Junior (FLL Jr.) for Grades K-3 Gracious Professionalism® is a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. Today, over 400,000 students in 87+ countries participate in FIRST. To learn more about FIRST, go to www.usfirst.org.

The Quad City Engineering and Science Council (QCESC) is in its 53^rd year of operation as a non-profit, umbrella organization representing ~20+ engineering, science and technical societies in the Quad City area with approximately 3,000 associated professional members.  The QCESC mission is "To Promote and support engineering, science, and technical professionals and associated societies in Quad City Region and To Encourage and support students to study in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) related fields"..  Further information available at www.qcesc.org.

• Students aged 6-9 participating in the Jr. FIRST LEGO League (FLL) programs
• Students participating in the Basic Robotics classes offered to 5th and 6th graders across the district
• Students aged 9-14 participating on FIRST LEGO League (FLL) competition teams that will compete December 12th and 13th at the Putnam Museum
• Students in grades 9th-12th participating on the FIRST TECH Challenge (FTC) competition teams that compete throughout the Fall and Winter
• Also featured will be engineering students from Western Illinois who will present a drone that uses a Raspberry Pi and a heat sensor. Raspberry Pi  is a low cost, credit-card sized computer that plugs into a computer monitor or TV, and uses a standard keyboard and mouse. It is a capable little device that enables people of all ages to explore computing, and to learn how to program in languages like Scratch and Python. A Raspberry Pi programming class will be piloted to 3rd and 4th graders at Cody starting in January and will roll out across the district, with the help of volunteers, next year.