The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has awarded $750k grant to a Virginia-based technology company Digital Bazaar.

Founded in 2004, Digital Bazaar develops technology, services, and products that help integrate Linked Data, identity, and payments into the core architecture of the Web. The DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has awarded a $749,241 Small Business Innovation Program (SBIR) contract to the company to develop blockchain solution for identity and access management.

The project is titled “Fit-for-Purpose Blockchains/Identity and Access Management.” Building on its current platform, Digital Bazaar will develop a standards-based digital credentialing solution coupled with a fit-for-purpose blockchain. It will develop a flexible software ecosystem that combines fit-for-purpose distributed ledger technology (DLT), digital credentials, and digital wallets to address identity management and online access use cases for the Homeland Security Enterprise (HSE).

“Current blockchain implementations do not use any type of open standards to describe the data they work with. At the same time, scalable deployment requires such interoperability,” said S&T Identity Management Program Manager Anil John. “This blockchain project will deliver a solution that uses open standards developed via existing worldwide standards development organizations to ensure interoperability across blockchain implementations.”

Once completed, the enhanced product will be positioned as a Ledger As A Service (LaaS) platform, the official release said. Digital Bazaar will deploy the LaaS platform in several HSE pilot projects to demonstrate its capability.

In May 2017, Digital Bazaar received approximately $750,000 as it was among the 12 businesses selected for 13 Phase II contracts through the SBIR program. Initiated in 2004, the DHS S&T SBIR program is a competitive contract awards program that increases the participation of small businesses in federal R&D initiatives and facilitates private-sector commercialization of SBIR-funded solutions. A SBIR Phase II awardee continues its R&D from a completed Phase I project that successfully affirms the scientific and technical merit and feasibility of a proposed effort.

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