Tehama and Bitnobi to Enhance Data Trust Platform for the Canadian Department of National Defense

Tehama, the fastest, easiest, most secure way to deploy a global workforce, and Bitnobi, a startup that has created a leading patented, privacy protected, data-sharing platform, announced the signing of a second contract with the Canadian Department of National Defence (DND) to advance the development of an innovative, integrated human resources data management platform. The project demonstrates DND’s trust in Tehama and Bitnobi’s ability to design and implement the only proprietary data trust solution in the Canadian market that manages data tracking, auditing, and sharing activities for enterprise organizations.

Tehama and Bitnobi developed a prototype of the data trust during their first contract with the DND in 2019, using Tehama’s secure virtual desktop and Bitnobi’s unique data- sharing solution. The prototype enabled the DND to grant users data access while auditing all end-user interactions with the organization’s applications and data. This second engagement with the DND will enable Tehama and Bitnobi to further enhance this prototype and prepare it for full scale testing.

The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing organizations to run remotely for the long haul, and these companies need the power to share access to data quickly. In some industries, this forces organizations to bypass typical security red tape. This has led to a 273% increase in data breaches through ransomware and a myriad of other types of destructive attacks. This increased breach risk requires human intervention, guided by data governance and the use of technology, to implement rules of engagement for how users should interact with an organization’s data.

“This second contract with DND provides a significant opportunity and funding for Tehama to continue the development of a compliant and secure virtual desktop for the DND data trust use case. The project comes on the heels of our Phase 1 round of funding closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it validates that our solution is unique and effective, especially for organizations that need to securely and quickly enable data access for remote workers,” said Gene Villeneuve, Chief Revenue Officer of Tehama.

With this second contract, Tehama and Bitnobi are advancing into the second component of the Competitive Projects element (1b) through the Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS) program that cited a need for a human resources data management platform for Canada’s Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). The partnership solidifies the relationship between a small to medium-sized Canadian company and a Canadian university-based startup to bring a new, innovative solution to the data trust market.

“The events of 2020 have revealed key issues in the data management sector, and I am confident that this data trust solution will benefit any organization that is interested in using technology to supplement their data governance framework,” said Hassan Jaferi, CEO of Bitnobi, Inc.

Tehama and Bitnobi will demonstrate the capabilities of their integrated solution to the DND and CAF on a milestone basis until September 2021 with the goal of moving forward to the next phase of the IDEaS program.

About Tehama

Tehama is the fastest, easiest, most secure way to deploy a virtual workforce. With our Virtual Office as a Service platform, enterprises can create cloud-based virtual offices, rooms, and desktops anywhere in the world. No other solution on the market today connects remote workers with mission-critical and data-sensitive systems, with the speed, agility, unparalleled security, and comprehensive audit trail via built-in SOC 2 controls, real-time activity feeds and session recordings that Tehama offers.

Headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, Tehama has received assistance from Invest Ottawa and is also receiving research-based funding support from the National Research Council of Canada’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP). For more information, visit tehama.io.

About Bitnobi

Bitnobi, Inc. is a technology startup focused on the commercialization of a privacy-protected, data sharing platform. Bitnobi’s patented platform was designed and developed by experts in big data, cloud computing and cybersecurity to solve the problem of how to share data in a safe and secure manner. Bitnobi was spun out of research from Dr. Marin Litoiu’s laboratory at York University with full support from Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners (formerly MaRS Innovation) and Innovation York. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Bitnobi has also received assistance from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Ontario Centres of Excellence, Seneca College, National Research Council of Canada’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP), Canadian Personalized Health Innovation Network and MaRS Discovery District.

About IDEaS

The Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS) program fosters open innovation to provide creative thinkers with the structure and support to encourage solutions which will assist in solving some of Canada’s toughest defense and security challenges. The IDEaS program is broken into several components, designed to advance defense technologies in Canada. Innovations are eligible for funding up to $200,000 during Component 1a and up to $1,000,000 during Component 1b. Innovations that are promising for Canada can receive non-IDEaS Program funding up to $20M to continue development up to Solution Readiness Level 9.