Northern Indiana Startup Working With Navy on Blockchain
(Image of Joel Neidig courtesy of SIMBA Chain.)
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA young northern Indiana company has built a partnership with the U.S. Navy on an emerging digital technology. SIMBA Chain Inc., born out of a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency-funded collaboration between Plymouth-based Indiana Technology and Manufacturing Co. and the University of Notre Dame Center for Research Computing, will work with the Naval Air Systems Command on blockchain-centered systems for tracking aviation parts. Currently, SIMBA Chain says, the parts are tracked manually, on-paper and entered into a database.
In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, SIMBA Chain Chief Executive Officer Joel Neidig described how the partnership came together. He says the startup got its "legs" through the DARPA funding, then built connections. "The other thing is that we’re part of the Department of Defense Blockchain Community of Interest, and so they reached out to industry partners to solve problems and we — as a startup — we have an innovative way of doing that easily and in an efficient way," Neidig says. He adds the company is also part of groups establishing early standards for blockchain.
The agreement allows the Navy to access chain code and SIMBA Chain-developed protocols to help with big data needs. In a news release, the company says "the goal of the agreement is to develop a conceptual architecture for what a connected and visible supply chain could look like. A major hurdle is information assurance and accreditation for a distributed information system, a sizable departure from a centrally controlled database architecture the DoD is currently comfortable operating."
Navy Logistics Management Specialist George Blackwood says using blockchain will improve visibility, anti-tampering, traceability and data transparency in the supply chain. You can connect to more about the agreement by clicking here. Neidig has written more about the uses of blockchain in logistics, which you can connect to by clicking here.