The U.S. federal government has ordered another blockchain solution, this time to secure sensitive Department of Defense R&D data.

The Department of Defense declared today the awarded a $200,000 contract to SIMBA Chain. The company intends to create a proof-of-concept blockchain-based system to enhance security, integration, and auditability for more than 4.5 million research and design documents and 4,000 users managed by the DoD.

The contract declared today is another signal from the U.S. government that it perceives value from blockchain technology in a wide diversity of critical use cases. Earlier, SIMBA Chain was also elected to support secure communications for the U.S. Navy.

Trial supposed to start in June.

The project has been named ALAMEDA for Authenticity Ledger for Auditable Military Enclaved Data Access, with a trial recorded to run for five months commencing in June. If successful, the project could be granted an additional $1 million for an SBIR Phase II contract to create a Github-like system for managing and monitoring documents within projects.

The project is needed to offer data access controls, delivery verifications, validation mechanisms, and search capabilities. While blockchain technology essentially allows enhanced audits and traceability, SIMBA Chain will utilize its cloud-based Smart Contract as a Service platform to build and use smart contract architecture for the project. SIMBA Chain was established in 2017 to achieve a DoD contract by Indiana Technology and Manufacturing Companies (ITAMCO) and the Center for Research Computing at the University of Notre Dame.

 “The DOD, defense contractors, and enterprise level businesses have benefited from mobile devices and how easy it has become to access and exchange data,” SIMBA Chain CEO Joel Neidig said in a statement.

“However, the enhanced flow of information represents a significant security risk. Hence the need for sophisticated blockchain solutions that authenticate and document users, eliminate the third party bad actors, and otherwise allow secure direct connections between trusted sources.”

The U.S. DoD has been investigating blockchain technology since 2019, directed by the requirement for more secure communications. As cyber warnings from rival states and elsewhere continue evolving, we may view governments increasingly depending on decentralized technology. 

The Indianapolis, Indiana-based SIMBA was founded in 2017 and financed by DARPA to create “a secure, unhackable messaging and transaction platform for the U.S. military.”