The broader impact/commercial potential of this Phase I project is to increase the visibility and availability of data used for control and automation of critical infrastructures. This research proposes the development of a novel technology that takes advantage of flexible, low cost, and low power internet of things (IoT) devices to replicate, transmit, and analyze relevant monitoring and control data. Blackouts in the U.S. cause tens of billions of dollars in outage cost annually. This technology will advance the nation's energy safety, security, and economy by improving the capabilities of critical infrastructure systems to respond to blackouts caused by anomalous events such as natural disasters (e.g., hurricanes, winter storms) and localized faults or cyberattacks. Therefore, the technology developed in this project will decrease restoration time and provide real-time defense against cyberattacks, reducing the loss of electricity to critical users such as hospitals and governmental facilities, and saving billions of dollars. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will advance the scientific knowledge required to enhance the resilience of critical infrastructures through the integration of IoT networks, monitoring and control technologies, and data analytics. Advances in the use of IoT devices for critical infrastructures integrated with security mechanisms will facilitate the technology transition of the current critical infrastructure. This project will explore and design novel mechanisms for data processing, light-weight encryption, and attack detection. The technology developed in this project will have widespread applications in monitoring and control, not only in the electricity sector, but also in many other critical infrastructures such as water, oil, and gas. A proof of concept will be developed to validate the feasibility of the proposed architecture and algorithms.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
