In December 2017, the University of Cincinnati partnered with the Ohio Department of Higher Education and the Ohio Adjutant General's Department to explore and demonstrate the use of an Ohio Cyber Range.

Phase II of the Ohio Cyber Range leveraged the University of Cincinnati's multi-year experience running a virtual cloud environment and the institution's distinct comprehensive approach to Cybersecurity in which multiple disciplines collaborate on programs, including two NSA Centers of Excellence in Cyber Operations and Cyber Defense, and ABET-accredited undergraduate program in Cybersecurity, as well as several graduate programs.

Phase III began in November, 2019. This phase continues on the successes of Phase II and resulted standing up the Ohio Cyber Range Institute at the University of Cincinnati, continuing the Core Service Sites at UC and UA, and designating multiple OCRI-Regional Programming Centers across the state.