Factom Receives $200,000 from US Government to Build Blockchain-Based Electronic Grid Solution

The Department of Energy of the United States just brought out $200,000 to Factom, a blockchain-based energy company, in order to help defend the national power grid.

According to a posting on Pamspublic.science, electronic grids are advancing much like any other technology, but it’s getting harder to track them. Because of this, some data falls vulnerable to bad actors and other attackers.

“The overall objectives of this proposal is to design a system to improve grid reliability and resilience through the use of blockchain technology,” claims the post. They plan on “securing these devices by cryptographically signing produced data at or near the data origin through the use of a blockchain entry signing device.”

Overall, the installed blockchain network will take advantage of “an efficient multi-leader consensus mechanism without requiring computationally expensive proof-of-work algorithms to secure the blockchain.”

In fact, they plan for each system to have its own identity linked to the blockchain network. From there, they will also bring in a prototype network that will tie the blockchain network in with the system’s more traditional Open Field Message Bus. An interface between the two will also come to be.

The post continues, stating that “if carried over into Phase II, the resulting technology developed as a result of this project would help improve the security of everyday devices used by consumers in addition to Industrial equipment.”

At that point, Factom will work with manufacturers to cost-effectively implement these solutions into their everyday systems. By doing so, they can enjoy a “more resilient system able to handle the demands of today’s power requirements with the ability to scale for the needs of the future.”

While it isn’t day trading cryptocurrencies, this is another interesting use case provided by blockchain technology.