Small Business Innovation Research Program Provides Seed Funding for R&D for innovative robocall blocker technology.

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, UNITED STATES, February 22, 2020 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Forward Edge AI has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant for $225,000 to conduct research and development work on detecting and blocking robocall scams, disinformation, misinformation, and mal-information.

Americans received 26.3 billion robocalls in 2018 and in March 2019 a new monthly record of 5.23 billion robocalls was reached according to the FCC. Robocalling scammers rely on technology that works on a large scale, and new schemes are getting smarter and pose an even bigger threat in the future. Recently, President Donald Trump signed a bill that increases fines on criminal robocall violations and cracks down on companies making the calls, as part of a federal push against telephone scammers.

Gabriel’s Roboblocker leverages new decentralized ledger technology with blockchain encryption, swarm intelligence, natural language processing, and real-time adaptive classification anomaly detection and clustering algorithms to block robocalls and reduce connection delays on all devices across all networks. Gabriel’s broader impact goals are to reduce the volume of robocalls and scam phone calls by 18%, reduce related fraud by $4 billion annually, and to make it safe for Americans to answer their phones again.

“NSF is proud to support the technology of the future by thinking beyond incremental developments and funding the most creative, impactful ideas across all markets and areas of science and engineering,” said Andrea Belz, Division Director of the Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships at NSF. “With the support of our research funds, any deep technology startup or small business can guide basic science into meaningful solutions that address tremendous needs.”

“The key objective of our SBIR is to reduce robocall related scams by $4 billion annually. The Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, and Swarm Intelligence innovations incorporated into the Gabriel product represent a revolutionary leap in our ability to detect disinformation, and block them before the scams can metastasize and claim new victims,” says Eric Adolphe, CEO of Forward Edge-AI, Inc.

Once a small business is awarded a Phase I SBIR/STTR grant (up to $225,000), it becomes eligible to apply for a Phase II grant (up to $750,000). Small businesses with Phase II grants are eligible to receive up to $500,000 in additional matching funds with qualifying third-party investment or sales.

NSF accepts Phase I proposals from small businesses year-round. Small businesses with innovative science and technology solutions and commercial potential are encouraged to apply. All proposals submitted to the NSF SBIR/STTR program, also known as America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF, undergo a rigorous merit-based review process.

To learn more about America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF, visit: https://seedfund.nsf.gov/

About the National Science Foundation’s Small Business Programs: America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF awards $200 million annually to startups and small businesses, transforming scientific discovery into products and services with commercial and societal impact. Startups working across almost all areas of science and technology can receive up to $1.5 million in non-dilutive funds to support research and development (R&D), helping de-risk technology for commercial success. America’s Seed Fund is congressionally mandated through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The NSF is an independent federal agency with a budget of about $8.1 billion that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering.
About Forward Edge-AI, Inc.: Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, the company provides end-to-end software and mobile application development services focused on securing devices on the forward edge. We undertake high risk and high reward research and development in Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain/DLT, Robotic Process Automation, and Swarm Intelligence to solve pressing national security and public safety challenges for our nation.

David Daly
Forward Edge AI
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