Homeland Security Awards Grant to Factom Blockchain Project for Developing Security System

A $197,292 grant has been awarded to the enterprise blockchain company Factom by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Factom has to develop a security system that’s helpful in detecting fraud in the imports sector, more exactly the import of raw goods. DHS has announced on Monday that Factom will work on a blockchain platform for managing licenses and certificates used in the import of raw materials. The system will be open and provide information on where the issued credentials are coming from.

Anil John, technical director of the department’s silicon valley innovation program said,

“Data-centric blockchains that can work with any type of data are useful in enterprise contexts such as those of U.S. Customs and Border Protection for understanding the origin of raw material imports,”

“Factom is addressing this business and technical problem in a manner that supports global interoperability by adapting their existing Harmony products to support emerging World Wide Web Consortium global standards such as decentralized identifiers and verifiable credentials.”

Not the First Time DHS and Factom Are Collaborating

The DHS is not working for the first time with Factom in order to develop blockchain solutions. In June 2018, it has given a $192,380 grant to the same firm, to build a Border Patrol system for sensors and cameras. As a matter of fact, it seems to give many grants to blockchain startups lately.

Only earlier in November this year, it gave $200,000 to Digital Bazaar, for the company to develop a credential management program. Also, Canadian blockchain-based startup Mavenner Systems received from DHS $182,700 for a Customs and Border Protection system that tracks imports of Canadian natural gas and oil in real-time.

DHS surely is determined to implement new technologies and to have all systems tracking everything more efficiently. At least this is what it seems they’re aiming for.