Fluree, a blockchain-backed data platform startup, selected to provide distributed global communications to Air Force and U.S. Department of Defense

Secure communications are at the heart of all successful operations, and especially critical for the Air Force and Department of Defense. Fluree is a four-year old North Carolina startup that wants to bring the immutability of blockchain to the database. The startup is a pioneer of FlureeDB, a graph database that makes blockchain technology accessible, practical, and scalable for everyday business applications.

Today, Fluree announced it has won a contract from the United States Air Force (USAF) to bring commercial best-in-class technologies to the Air Force and U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). As part of the Small Business Innovation Research AFWERX technology innovation program, Fluree’s data management platform was selected to provide the USAF with secure, worldwide command-and-control communications using an encrypted, distributed, blockchain-backed graph database shared between partners.

Founded in 2016 by Brian Platz and Flip Filipowski, the Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based Fluree is a provider of blockchain-backed data platform. Fluree secures data with unbreakable cryptography for extreme data integrity. Provide mathematical proof into the provenance, history, and legitimacy of every piece of information – forever. The startup is pioneering a data-first technology approach with its data management platform.

Fluree ensures complete data integrity by combining transactions into immutable time-stamped “blocks” and locking each block in via advanced cryptography. Along with high levels of security, the USAF demands interoperability for its departments around the globe. Fluree will meet this demand by leveraging blockchain cryptography, semantic data standard formatting, and configurable rules written directly to the ledger to facilitate interoperable communication across the DoD network and its worldwide partners.

“Fluree is uniquely suited to provide a distributed communication network that supports the interoperability and scalability requirements of both legacy and evolving government systems,” said Brian Platz, co-CEO of Fluree. “The Fluree solution leverages a blockchain architecture for security while supporting the storage of large data volumes following FAIR data principles in the integrated graph database. We’re excited about the opportunity to provide U.S. Air Force customers with an enterprise-grade data management platform.”

The initial contract calls for Fluree to partner with a department within the USAF to develop a platform capable of facilitating Multi-domain Command and Control (MDC2) operations for the DoD and its global allied partners. Additionally, Fluree will conduct Voice of the Customer (VOC) events to identify specific customer needs and develop a plan for a prototype deployment of the Fluree data management platform to interoperate with the existing DoD systems.

Reporting to the Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, AFWERX is a catalyst for agile Air Force engagement across industry and academia to create transformative opportunities. The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program enables small businesses to explore their technological potential and provides the incentive to profit from its commercialization.