SIMBA Chain, a cloud-based smart-contract-as-a-service (SCaaS) platform, has been awarded with a contract to develop a blockchain-enabled solution to secure archives and R&D data by the US Department of Defence (DOD).
SIMBA Chain announced the news in a press release published on its website on Tuesday, May 12. According to the press release, the Department of Defence (DOD) has awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I contract of $200,000 to SIMBA Chain. The project is geared to develop a single, proof-of-concept blockchain-based system to secure and share research and development (R&D) data.
According to announcement, the Phase I the project, dubbed ALAMEDA for Authenticity Ledger for Auditable Military Enclaved Data Access, will start from June 1, 2020, through September 30, 2020. The Phase 1 is just a foundation for this project. After the evaluation of Phase 1 results, the $1 Million Phase II of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) will focus on a broader commercialization strategy.
The announcement reads:
“The goal of ALAMEDA is to create a single system for efficiently sharing R&D-related documents and scientific data sets by augmenting existing repositories using Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs) to maintain the authenticity and identification of the source for information. To do this, SIMBA Chain must first design and build an efficient blockchain architecture that meets the requirements.”
The requirement of ALAMEDA includes ensuring integrity through validation mechanisms, building access controls for documents and datasets, enabling rapid searches, an efficient document delivery , and “establish a standardized path for data providers and repositories to easily integrate documents and data sets into the system.” In other words, the project outlines a GitHub-like document access and monitoring system.
SIMBA Chain, based in Indianapolis, was established in 2017. The platform is a cloud-based, smart-contract-as-a-service (SCaaS) platform that enables industry and governments to quickly develop and deploy DApps on any blockchain platform they want. The platform has already completed other projects with DARPA, the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Department of Defense.
Joel Neidig, CEO of SIMBA Chain, said:
“The DOD, defence contractors, and enterprise level businesses have benefited from mobile devices and how easy it has become to access and exchange date. However, the enhanced flow of information represents a significant security risk. Hence the need for sophisticated blockchain solutions that authenticate and document users, eliminate third party bad actors, and otherwise allow secure direct connections between trusted sources.”
He went on to say:
“This is absolutely essential for the DOD, which is constantly handling data central to both the nation’s security and global leadership in science and technology.”
