The United States Department of Defence (DoD) has published its four-year roadmap, revealing it is investing in blockchain-based cybersecurity solutions.

Entitled “DoD Digital Modernization Strategy: DoD Information Resource Management Strategic Plan FY19–23,” the plan reveals that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is actively running at least two blockchain cybersecurity projects.

In the plan’s foreword, David L. Norquist, Performing the Duties of the Deputy Secretary of Defense, says:

“The global threat landscape is constantly evolving and remaining competitive and modernizing our digital environment for great power competition is imperative for the Department of Defense. We must act now to secure our future.

“The Digital Modernization Strategy provides a roadmap to support implementation of the National Defense Strategy lines of effort through the lens of cloud, artificial intelligence, command, control and communications and cybersecurity.”

One of the projects DARPA is working on involves creating a blockchain-based communication and transaction platform, to enable communications between units and officers in the field and headquarters and the Pentagon. DARPA is also trying to create an unhackable code using blockchain-based tech.

The DoD also plans to deliver an enterprise cloud environment to help leverage commercial innovation and provide a platform for advanced capabilities such as machine learning (ML) and AI – something the department says is necessary to “increase decision-making quality, speed, and lethality.”

You can see the full roadmap here.

The scale of the DoD is huge, with 1.3 million active duty military personnel, 742,000 civilian personnel, and 826,000 National Guard and Reserve personnel, several hundred thousand buildings and structures at more than 5,000 locations covering over 30 million acres of land, and an IT budget of $46.4 billion in fiscal year 2019.

As we reported in December 2018, the USAF Institute of Technology has already taken an interest in blockchain, launching an educational website to show the potential of blockchain tech in supply chain management (read more).

AYO.NEWS says:

Though many people in the blockchain and emerging tech industries may feel uneasy about the technologies being used for military applications, there’s no doubt that the DoD taking a greater interest, and spending some serious cash, will act as a catalyst for development in general.

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.