Topic: SBIR Funding for Blockchain Research (Read 420 times)

Yes, it can be done by yourself. However, it is a difficult process. Further, the sponsoring agencies expect their solicitations to result in proposals that include strong _teams_, not just credible PIs (Principal Investigators).

There are many that can help you with this. I'd suggest Jim & Carol Greenwood. Don't be put off by their geocities-style website - they know how to navigate the SBIR/STTR maze: http://www.g-jgreenwood.com/sbir/

If you're in WY, UW has some good resources: http://www.uwyo.edu/sbir/ as, I would imagine does other Unis (the STTR is a sister program to SBIR that aims to move Uni research into commerce).

Zyn Systems maintains a good portal: http://zyn.com/

There is a huge amount of information out there - it'll be like drinking through a firehose. Expect to expend significant time just learning 'SBIR 101'. There are regular events all over the nation where most sponsoring agencies send reps to do a dog'n'pony on their org, and let you ask about details of their specific solicitations and procedures, usually coupled with some training on the processes.

Note that my experience is years out of date. I probably can't help you further.

What's the cost of someone writing a proposal for you out of curiosity? I'm planning on trying for one if I see a solicitation that fits my idea.

Can someone do it themselves?

Cool. I've been a Principal Investigator on an SBIR research program that went through Phase I, II to Commercialization.

Any bitcoiner who has an idea that matches up with DHS's solicitation (read that as "stated desires") might be well advised to look into procuring this funding. SBIR money is specifically targeted at research that will plausibly result in a marketable product. A successful SBIR proposal can lead to enough money to sustain a small team for up to 2 years or so while they validate and build out their idea. SBIR money has launched many successful businesses.

The proposal process, and subsequent administration of award, are rife with arcane bureaucratic minutiae. Management of these aspects, however, can be outsourced to several specialist organizations, and their costs are a legitimate part of any proposal.

Good luck, bitcoiners!

Oh, wow there is more than one. Here's another...

https://www.sbir.gov/sbirsearch/detail/867813

I was just browsing SBIR funding for something else I was working on and came across this listing...HAH. If anyone is interested making a proposal to start a business you have until January 20th to submit a proposal.

https://www.sbir.gov/sbirsearch/detail/867797

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Identity, Privacy, and Cybersecurity

OBJECTIVE: Design information security and privacy concepts on the blockchain to support identity management capabilities that increase security and productivity while decreasing costs and security risks for the Homeland Security Enterprise (HSE).

DESCRIPTION: Blockchain technologies, if incorporated with the security and privacy capabilities required by the HSE, potentially offer a flexible, resilient and potentially lower cost alternative to current Homeland Security Enterprise identity management capabilities.

Current HSE identity management deployments utilize centralized authoritative sources to vouch for the accuracy of the information they collect and maintain. While mechanisms for storing this information can vary (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), databases, Active Directory, etc.), they are ultimately a type of organizationally owned and controlled ledger.

This in turn has led to an ecosystem where processing a transaction to validate information (e.g., birth date) it is necessary to (1) first discover the entity that is considered authoritative for that information, (2) establish the technical means (protocols, data formats, etc.) to interact with that entity, and (3) rely upon the ability and scalability of that entity to validate the information.

Potential examples of this type of interaction within the Homeland Security Enterprise (HSE) are validation of employment status, citizenship, eligibility to work, validation of qualifications of first responders and any other type of interaction that requires a central authority to provide a distributed validation capability.

However, recent innovations around crypto-currencies point to a potential answer to this dilemma. Of particular interest is the underlying technology of the ‘bitcoin’ crypto-currency, which is called the blockchain. The blockchain is in effect a common, public ledger, which utilizes cryptographic mechanisms to verify transactions and information in a decentralized manner.

The potential applicability of blockchain technology goes beyond crypto-currencies (which is simply an application built on top of that technology) to many other uses such as smart contracts, provenance and attribution, distributed validation of information and more.

This SBIR topic is focused on determining and demonstrating if classic information security concepts such as confidentiality, integrity, availability, non-repudiation and provenance as well as privacy concepts such as pseudonymity and selective disclosure of information can be built on top of the blockchain to provide a distributed, scalable approach to privacy respecting identity management.

PHASE I: Analyze the current implementation of the public blockchain technology and develop the concepts and methods needed to demonstrate the implementation of information security principles of confidentiality, integrity, availability, non-repudiation and provenance as well as privacy concepts such as pseudonymity and selective disclosure of information on the public blockchain.

This phase will demonstrate the various information security and privacy concepts and methods using a multi-user information-sharing prototype and provide detailed architecture and technical details that document and explain the implementation. In addition, this phase will explore, analyze and document the feasibility of applying the developed concepts and methods to a private or consortium based blockchain.

PHASE II: Apply the concepts and methods developed in Phase I to the domain of identity management – in particular to the assertion and validation of identity information (i.e., attributes).

Phase II will demonstrate via a prototype how such a system could interoperate with existing identity assertion, validation and attribute sharing infrastructure built on top of current protocols such as SAML 2, OpenID Connect and OAUTH2. It will provide detailed architectural papers, technical details and prototype code that explain and document the implementation. In addition, this phase will explore, analyze and provide documentation on the incentive structures that need to be put into place for the adoption of this technology over the status quo.

PHASE III: COMMERCIAL OR GOVERNMENT APPLICATIONS: Potential HSE Applications of this technology include attribute registries used to share emergency responder qualifications, employment eligibility or organizational affiliations as a precursor to physical and logical access control. Commercial applications include digital contracts, attribution of knowledge work and more.

REFERENCES:

Nakamoto, Satoshi. Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System. Retrieved from https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf
Buterin, Vitalik. (August 7, 2015). On Public and Private Blockchains. Retrieved from https://blog.ethereum.org/2015/08/07/on-public-and-private-blockchains/
Gault, Mike. (July 5, 2015). Forget Bitcoin — What Is the Blockchain and Why Should You Care? Retrieved from http://recode.net/2015/07/05/forget-bitcoin-what-is-the-blockchain-and-why-should-you-care/
Security Assertion Markup Language v2 (SDO: OASIS), Retrieved from https://www.oasis-open.org/standards#samlv2.0
RFC 9749: The OAUTH 2 Authorization Framework (SDO: IETF), Retrieved from https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6749
KEY WORDS: cryptography, bitcoin, blockchain, identity, attributes

TECHNICAL POINT OF CONTACT: Anil John, 202-254-8789, [email protected]