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The Department of Homeland Security is kicking off a new research initiative that explores ways in which blockchain can help prevent fraud, forgery and counterfeiting.
The scientific and technological direction of the agency Tuesday announced the program Preventing counterfeiting and falsification of certificates and licenses, which aims to strengthen the process of digital documentation using blockchain and other distributed accounting technologies. The initiative is hosted by the Silicon Valley Innovation Program, the accelerator of internal initiation of the department.
Blockchain allows users to store information on an encrypted ledger that permanently records each exchange. Its distributed nature makes it useful for protecting sensitive data and ensuring that data is not altered or corrupted.
As such, "technology offers the potential for greater transparency and auditing of public service operations, greater visibility into multi-party business operations and the automation of paper-based processes", officials wrote in the solicitation. .
The department is particularly interested in how to use the technology to issue and track the validity of documents relating to travel, identity, citizenship, immigration and employment. The officials also intend to explore potential use cases to track oil imports and determine the origin of other raw materials.
While the first series of awards will target issues related to citizenship and immigration services in the United States, the initiative will fund proposals related to customs and border protection and the Administration of Transport Safety.
"Homeland Security's broad mission includes the need to issue rights, licenses and certifications for a variety of purposes including travel, citizenship, employment admissibility, immigration status and supply chain security," he said. SVIP technical director Anil John in a note. "Understanding the feasibility and usefulness of the use of blockchain technology and digital distribution accounting for what are currently paper-based credentials is critical to preventing their loss, destruction, forgery and counterfeiting ".
The program is open to all companies with less than 200 employees who have not received a federal contract of more than $ 1 million in the last year. Selected groups will be eligible for funding of up to $ 800,000 over the four-part program.
The agency will host an industrial day at Menlo Park on December 11th. The questions will be judged on a mobile basis, with the final deadline set for 23 May.
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