South Dakota investing $500,000 to bolster critical infrastructure resilience

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) - South Dakota is investing $500,000 in efforts to strengthen critical infrastructure and prepare for potential cyber and physical threats.

Gov. Larry Rhoden announced Tuesday that the money from the state’s Future Fund will go to the South Dakota Department of the Military to support the Governor’s Resilience and Infrastructure Task Force, or GRIT.

The task force was created to identify infrastructure vulnerabilities, improve emergency preparedness and strengthen coordination between public and private organizations.

The funding will help GRIT develop communication tools for residents, expand geographic information system, or GIS, resources and integrate infrastructure data to support statewide planning.

The initiative will also support partnerships with industry and academic institutions focused on resilience and security.

“Earlier this year, I declared national security as South Dakota’s next big industry,” Rhoden said. He said the task force is helping identify vulnerabilities and prepare the state for future risks.

The task force is chaired by Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen. Mark Morrell, adjutant general of the South Dakota National Guard, serves as vice chair.

State officials have increasingly promoted national security-related industries as an economic development opportunity while emphasizing the importance of cybersecurity, infrastructure protection and emergency preparedness.

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