The U. S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science together with Technology Directorate (S&T) awarded Austin, Texas-based $199,000 to Factom Inc. to advance digital identity safety for Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
The laurels was ane of several DHS S&T awards to back upward the evolution of safety solutions that involve blockchain technology. DHS S&T too announced competitive query awards for modest businesses through its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program
DHS S&T awarded $199,000 to Factom Inc. for its projection titled, “Blockchain Software to Prove Integrity of Captured Data From Border Devices” through its Securing the Internet of Things (IoT), Solicitation Number: HSHQDC-16-R-00035. Factom proposed the projection inward reply to the showtime telephone weep upward for proposals nether the Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP) Other Transaction Solicitation (OTS).
The SVIP OTS programme began inward Dec 2015 to encourage non-traditional performers to develop solutions to some of the toughest threats facing DHS together with its homeland safety mission.
Factom Inc. proposes to authenticate devices to foreclose spoofing together with to ensure information integrity past times leveraging the blockchain, ane of the virtually secure networks.
Project Addresses Hacking
Factom volition develop an identity log to capture a device’s identity, who made it, known safety issues, available updates, together with granted regime patch adding the dimension of fourth dimension for additional security. The project’s objective is to restrain hackers’ abilities to corrupt a device’s past times records together with larn inward harder to spoof.
Dr. Reginald Brothers, the DHS Under Secretary for Science together with Technology (S&T), said it is critical to safeguard IoT devices embedded inside people’s daily lives, devices such every bit vehicles people campaign to devices they wear. “S&T is excited to engage our nation’s innovators, helping us to develop new solutions for the homeland safety enterprise,” he said.
IoT is a convergence of information engineering scientific discipline networks, mobile devices, connected sensors together with devices. The DHS OTS searches for new ideas together with technologies to meliorate safety together with situational awareness to protect these domains. The domains include the xvi critical infrastructure sectors DHS monitors.
Melissa Ho, managing managing director of S&T’s Silicon Valley Innovation Program, said the startup community has already begun to develop innovative commercial solutions for IoT, hence it made feel to accept payoff of this innovation.
She noted that DHS has engaged this community to access products that volition affect DHS’s enterprise. The subdivision is encouraged past times the multifariousness of solutions that its solicitation tin convey DHS.
S&T Also Awards $3.1 Million
DHS S&T too announced a full of $3.1 ane thou m inward competitive query awards for 29 modest businesses inward 12 states together with Washington, D.C. through its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Each draw of piece of job organisation received about $100,000 inward preliminary funding. S&T awarded 31 contracts were awarded inward 10 theme areas:
• Applicability of Blockchain Technology to Identity Management together with Privacy Protection
o Digital Bazaar, Inc., Blacksburg, Va.
o Respect Network Corporation, Seattle, Wash.
o Narf Industries LLC, Washington, D.C.
o Celerity Government Solutions, LLC, McLean, Va.
• Blockchain Applications for Homeland Security Analytics
o Block Cypher, Redwood City, Calif.
o RAM laboratories, Inc., San Diego, Calif.
• Security Systems Video together with Audio Interoperability
o Balfour Technologies LLC, Bethpage, N.Y.
o McQ Inc., Fredericksburg, Va.
o Systems Engineering, Inc., Dulles, Va.
• Malware Prediction for Preemptive Cyber Defense
o BlueRISC, Inc., Amherst, Mass.
o GrammaTech, Inc., Ithaca, N.Y.
o Red Balloon Security, New York, N.Y.
o ZeroPoint Dynamics, LLC, Cary, N.C.
• Autonomous Indoor Navigation together with Tracking of First Responders
o Robotic Research, LLC, Gaithersburg, Md.
o Oceanit laboratories, Inc., Honolulu, Hawaii
o Integrated Solutions for Systems, Huntsville, Ala.
o Human Systems Integration, Inc., Walpole, Mass.
• Internet of Things (IoT) Low-Cost Flood Inundation Sensor
o Physical Optics Corporation, Torrance, Calif.
o Progeny Systems Corporation, Manassas, Va.
o Evigia Systems, Inc., Ann Arbor, Mich.
• Low-Cost, Real-Time Data Analytics for Underserved European Monetary System Agencies
o ElanTech, Columbia, Md.
o Azavea Inc., Philadelphia, Pa.
• Real-Time Assessment of Resilience together with Preparedness
o InferLink Corporation, El Segundo, Calif.
o Datanova Scientific LLC, Baltimore, Md.
• Using Social Media to Support Timely together with Targeted Emergency Response Actions
o Physical Optics Corporation, Torrance, Calif.
o ElanTech, Columbia, Md.
o Decisive Analytics, Arlington, Va.
o UtopiaCompression Corporation, Los Angeles, Calif.
• Remote Identity Proofing Alternatives to Knowledge Based Authentication together with Verification
o Card Smart Technologies, Basking Ridge, N.J.
o PreID Inc., Atherton, Calif.
o Pomian & Corella, Carmichael, Calif.
S&T programme managers developed the topics for the solicitation to run into query together with evolution requirements of DHS together with its homeland safety enterprise.
Further Funding Available
Small businesses tin live on eligible for farther funding from their initial projection results, inward add-on to the technical together with scientific merit together with perceived commercialization potential.
The DHS S&T SBIR Program began inward 2004 every bit a competitive contract awards programme to expand the participation of United States modest businesses inward federal query together with evolution initiatives together with to construct somebody sector commercialization of SBIR-funded solutions.
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