VIA Visionaries: Smart Policies for a Smarter Grid with Graham Turk

It’s the VIA Visionaries you know and love, but on location! Join us LIVE from MIT as VIA’s CEO Colin Gounden sits down for a chat with MIT Energy Initiative’s Graham Turk to talk about smart policies for a smarter grid!
In Graham’s current role at MIT, he is in charge of researching grid impacts of rapid electrification and tariff design to promote adoption of heat pumps and electric vehicles. Prior to joining MIT, Graham spent several years with Green Mountain Power, well known for providing 100% carbon-free electricity to 266,000 customers across Vermont.
For those of you interested in clean energy, EVs, and overall love a good conversation, this is a must! Tune in on Thursday, February 8th at 12:00pm ET by RSVPing on our LinkedIn event page.

Power Up!: Accelerating Growth in 2024

We’re gearing up to Power Up! VIAneers worldwide will unite to shape our vision for 2024. This two-day event, with the theme, “VIA Vision”, aims to fuel accelerated growth for a groundbreaking 2024! Follow along on LinkedInX, and Instagram for pics and snippets of our hybrid event.

VIA’s CEO Colin Gounden invited to speak at GBBC’s 7th Annual Blockchain Central Davos event in Switzerland

We’re thrilled to announce that VIA’s CEO, Colin Gounden, has been invited to participate in the esteemed 7th Annual Blockchain Central Davos event, hosted by the Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC) from January 14-18, 2024. This prestigious conference coincides with the annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, a testament to the magnitude and influential reach of this event.

Colin will be on a panel that covers the topic of AI and blockchain and will take place on January 17, 2024 from 3:00-3:40pm CET.

For more details, visit GBBC’s official event page and follow us on LinkedInXInstagram for the latest updates!

VIA showcased during GAI Insights’ Learning Lab live stream

GAI Insights, an analyst firm helping AI Leaders achieve results with GenAl, invited VIA’s CEO Colin Gounden as a special guest on their Learning Lab series. The weekly series covers use cases of GenAI and showcases new and exciting projects in the space.

After meeting at MIT as judges of a recent competition, Paul Baier, the CEO and principal analyst at GAI Insights, asked Colin to come on the weekly series to discuss the technologies VIA is using, more specifically, Mistral, and give a demo of VIA’s askJARVIS application.

During Colin’s portion of the nearly 60 minute session, he gives an overview of VIA’s mission and how that shaped where our company is today in terms of data privacy:

“Data is often too restricted, too tightly held. As we started to work more with the Air Force, Space Force, and the Navy, it became evident that a lot of common visualization tools were good for unsecured data, but not at a high level of classification.”

Colin goes on to give a detailed, 26-minute demo of VIA’s askJARVIS application, which solves just that, visualizations for highly sensitive data. There were exceptional questions asked throughout the demo ranging from which LLM we use, GPUs vs. CPUs, and his expert opinion on this topic.

If GenAI for highly sensitive data is of interest to you, this is a recording you don’t want to miss. Watch the video below and also reach out to us to learn more at info@solvewithvia.com.

 

Maj. Gen. Kim Crider (ret.) joined VIA for a chat about data, AI, and enterprise innovation for VIA Visionaries interview series

Devoted readers of VIA’s blog will remember Major General Kim Crider (ret.) from our Power Up! blog, that recapped a friendly competition between our team members for the best AI project idea. Maj. Gen. Crider provided her data and technology innovation expertise on a panel of judges selected to pick the winning idea.

VIA was delighted to bring Maj. Gen. Crider back to our HQ in Somerville to share with our VIA Visionaries followers just how remarkable her career has been. Along with other guests we’ve had on our VIA Visionaries speaker series, Maj. Gen. Crider shares a collective mission with VIA of making our communities cleaner, safer, and more equitable.

Here is a little background on Maj. Gen. Crider.

Maj. Gen. Crider has had an impressive career spanning over 35 years in the United States Air Force, where she held the distinguished role of Chief Data Officer. She is also the former Chief Technology Innovation Officer for the United States Space Force. Beyond her service, Maj. Gen. Crider has held pivotal roles with Harvard University as CIO-Executive IT Consultant and with MITRE as a Senior Information Systems Engineer. Currently, as the Founding Partner of Elara Nova: The Space Consultancy, Maj. Gen. Crider continues to influence the space sector while offering her expertise as a Board Director and Advisor for various companies.

With over 40 minutes of captivating conversation, Colin asked Maj. Gen. Crider an array of questions ranging from why she chose to devote her time to the military, the role of data in today’s “AI world”, and exceptional applications she is seeing in the space sector.

One of our favorite moments was when Maj. Gen. Crider gave us an analogy of just how large the amount of data we are seeing today is:

“…We’re entering hundreds of zettabytes of data this year and it’s going to continue to grow into numbers that you can’t even really imagine. You think about 200 zettabytes. What is that? I mean, I heard somebody talk about this statistic, for those of us who have been around for awhile, we can start to get our head around something like, this year alone we are going to be around 120 zettabytes of data, which is a billion terabytes and then next year we’re going to be at 180 zettabytes of data. So, 60 zettabytes, somebody said, is like 60 trillion DVDs, 60 trillion DVDs.

To hear the full question and response, and Colin’s shout-out to those of us who remember DVDs, watch the video below!

We’re thrilled to have hosted FIVE exceptional VIA Visionaries events at our HQ in Somerville in the second half of 2023. True to our mission, we will be bringing you an impressive lineup of speakers in 2024 with some exciting updates to the format. Be sure to follow VIA’s website and social media (LinkedInXInstagram) for the latest on this series and more!

Exclusive: U.S. Navy Cyber Warfare Engineer interviews VIA’s CEO to dive into blockchain’s role in advancing cybersecurity

October is a time for carving pumpkins, watching football, and celebrating Cybersecurity Awareness Month!

To mark the occasion, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), known for fielding and rapidly scaling commercial technology across the U.S. military, published a blog post featuring an exclusive interview with VIA, titled “Capitalizing on Commercial Technology to Promote Cybersecurity across the DOD.”

U.S. Navy Cyber Warfare Engineer and Program Manager at DIU, Jonathan Rogers, traveled across the country to VIA’s HQ in Somerville for the Q&A-style interview with VIA’s CEO, Colin Gounden. During the interview, Colin and Jon talk about the ways blockchain, data security, and decentralization are critical to improved cybersecurity. Check out the video below:

Patrick Gould, Director of DIU’s Cyber and Telecoms (C&T) Portfolio, covered details of the interview in the blog post and shared how VIA and DIU’s relationship started:

In an effort to shift away from a network-centric paradigm to one that is more data-centric, DIU, Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Atlantic, and Navy PEO Digital and Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NIWC) issued a solicitation in Fall 2022 for a fully distributed, trustless data execution model leveraging blockchain and other Web3 technologies. Boston-based company VIA was selected for its software-based solution that includes quantum resistant encryption and zero-knowledge proofs, simultaneously enhancing security posture while enabling faster decision making by giving rapid access to essential data for all mission partners.

For the full blog post that provides more detail on our relationship with the Department of Defense and more specifically, the recent project with DIU, visit the DIU website.

VIA Visionaries: Data, AI, and Enterprise Innovation with Kim Crider

We’re thrilled to host our next VIA Visionaries live stream event, featuring special guest, Major General Kim Crider (ret.). Maj. Gen. Crider, the former Chief Technology Innovation Officer for the United States Space Force, will sit down with VIA’s CEO, Colin Gounden live at our VIA HQ.

Having spent over 35 years with the United States Air Force, Maj. Gen. Crider possesses a deep and unique insight into the intersection of aerospace and technology. As the Air Force Chief Data Officer, and later the Chief Technology Innovation Officer, she was at the forefront of operationalizing technology-driven solutions within the space sector.

Join us as we delve into Maj. Gen. Crider’s remarkable experiences. Tune in at 1:00 PM ET on Monday, December 4th to hear first-hand perspectives from a true visionary in the field.

VIA’s CEO Colin Gounden Invited to Present at Swiss Blockchain Federation Event in Switzerland

VIA’s CEO, Colin Gounden, will be traveling to Switzerland next week to speak at the kick-off meeting for the Swiss Blockchain Federation’s new “Energy” Working Group. This event, taking place on November 30th, 2023, will unite industry thought leaders from the corporate and energy sectors at the Switzerland Innovation Park Central in Rotkreuz.

Colin will share VIA’s expertise on the intersection of blockchain technology and the energy sector during his talk, “Blockchain Applications in the US Energy Sector” at 5:45 PM (local time).

To join this event, register by sending an email to info@blockchainfederation.ch by November 27, 2023.

Ann Davlin, Partnership Development & Commercialization at Constellation sat down with VIA for a conversation about the future of sustainability and climate solutions for VIA Visionaries interview series

Earlier this month, VIA hosted another thoughtful chat as part of our VIA Visionaries interview series. As we always mention in each interview recap, we’re honored to have the opportunity to interview individuals who share the common mission with VIA of making our communities cleaner, safer, and more equitable. 

Throughout Ann Davlin’s remarkable career, energy and climate have been a constant theme across investing, researching, and government. Given her passion for sustainability and climate solutions, we knew this was going to be an enlightening chat for our VIA Visionaries followers.

First, a little background on Ann:

Ann’s impressive career has spanned multiple sectors, including government, private equity, and sustainability-focused organizations. From fundraising for ocean protection and leading sustainable energy projects to government roles such as Special Assistant – Deputy Undersecretary, Environmental Security at the Office of the Secretary of Defense and various positions at The White House, Ann’s versatility and profound ability to strategize across fields have made her an excellent leader in the energy space.

During the live-streamed 23-minute interview, VIA Visionaries audience members were treated to snippets of knowledge from Ann about her first-hand experience working in government and energy roles. Colin asked questions ranging from, “How important is sustainability and climate to defense?” to “Where does hydrogen fit in the climate solution landscape?” We have to say, though, you couldn’t beat the response to the first question Colin asked.

Right off the bat, Ann shared with us the story about how she ended up in the White House as one of her first roles. As Colin put it, “While you’re currently with Constellation Energy, you started with the White House – a place most people end their careers. Can you tell us more about your experience there?” We absolutely loved hearing her response:

After college, I didn’t really know what to do. I ended up in DC, my best friend had an extra room in a group house. I went to the Russell Senate Office Building to do an informational interview and ran into a friend I met over the years, Winston McGregor. She said, “Oh my god, my office is hiring!” So, I went and did an informational interview with Senator Ted Kennedy’s office manager and then I walked over to Winston’s office and I became a legislative associate for Al Gore doing environmental policy.

To hear the rest of her story as they both referred to as “serendipity,” watch the video below! 

The line up of special guests for our VIA Visionaries exclusive interview series keeps growing! Next month, Maj. Gen. Kim Crider (ret.), former Chief Technology Innovation Officer for the United States Space Force and now founding partner of Elara Nova (a space consultancy company) will join us for a live-stream chat on Monday, December 4th. Be sure to follow VIA’s website and social media (LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Threads) for the latest on this series and more!

Hilary Flynn, Managing Director, Investments at MassCEC joined VIA for a chat about policy, investment, and climate in latest VIA Visionaries interview

We created the VIA Visionaries interview series to showcase exceptional people in both the energy and technology spaces. These individuals share a common mission with VIA of making our communities cleaner, safer, and more equitable. 

For our latest interview, we were privileged to spend time with Hilary Flynn.
Hilary has such passion and drive when it comes to commercializing new technologies, investments, and policy development, that we couldn’t wait to ask her to share her wealth of knowledge with our VIA Visionaries followers. 

Here is a little background on Hilary. 

Hilary has had a remarkable career spanning policy and research at major think tanks and analyst firms and technology innovation and investment at a global utility. To break down her exceptional career, she has been with MassCEC as Managing Director, Investments for nearly two years. In her role, she oversees the 2030 fund, an early stage climate tech venture capital. Before joining MassCEC, Hilary was with National Grid for six years in different capacities – from identifying innovation to her latest role as Head of US Offshore Wind and Vice President of NG-RWE JV. Prior to National Grid, Hilary was a consultant for major research firms, working closely with renewable energy, utilities, and policy.

With a packed house at our headquarters in Somerville, which included VIA team members visiting from around the globe, our CEO, Colin Gounden, chatted with Hilary for over 30 minutes on a live streamed event. Colin asked Hilary questions about why she chose energy, the mission at MassCEC, and what role state organizations like MassCEC play in climate change mitigation and clean energy transition. 

Through the conversation, you can tell just how proud Hilary is of the work MassCEC is doing, so when Colin asked Hilary, “There are so many programs at MassCEC. Is there one in particular that is a favorite, or you really want others to consider more actively?”, we enjoyed hearing her response, here is a snippet:

My program, which is terrific, it’s called the 2030 fund. It’s an investment fund that we launched last year. It’s $50 million, effectively a tripling of the budget from what we had historically. We make equity investments and provide venture debt to startups. I think many people who know us know us for the grant program or some of our education programs, and they’re not always aware that we also act like a venture capital firm, and in a good way. We call ourselves public strategic, so we’re very friendly, but we’re unique. There aren’t too many states that have such a venture capital fund, particularly one for climate. So, we make early-stage investments in pre-seed, series A climate tech companies…”

To hear the entire response and the full interview, watch the video below! 

We’re thrilled to share that we have quite the line up of special guests for our VIA Visionaries exclusive interview series. Ann Davlin of Constellation, the largest producer of clean, carbon-free energy, will join us for a live-stream chat about the Future of Sustainability and Climate Solutions on Thursday, November 2nd at 2:30PM ET. Be sure to follow VIA’s website and social media (LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Threads) for the latest on this series and more!

VIA Visionaries: The Future of Sustainability and Climate Solutions with Ann Davlin

Ann Davlin, Partnership Development & Commercialization at Constellation will join VIA’s CEO, Colin Gounden, for the latest live stream event as part of our VIA Visionaries interview series. Ann’s mission at Constellation is to “intersect business, technology, and humanity to drive impactful partnerships and solutions.” We’re looking forward to our interview with Ann as she shares her experience on the future of sustainability and climate solutions. Don’t miss the interview, tune in at 2:30PM ET on Thursday, November 2nd for our live stream event!

Shalaya Morissette, Chief of the Minority Business and Workforce Division at the U.S. Department of Energy joined VIA for a chat about equity in energy for VIA Visionaries interview series

Our network of people who believe in VIA’s mission to make communities cleaner, safer, and more equitable has been growing exponentially this year. Through our outreach, we have the privilege of meeting exceptional people in the energy industry who are also making a positive impact on the world.

So, when we met Shalaya Morisette, Chief of the Minority Business and Workforce Division at the U.S. Department of Energy, we knew we wanted to host her at our headquarters for one of our VIA Visionaries interview series.

First, a little background on Shalaya.

Shalaya has been with the U.S. Department of Energy for just over a year in her role within the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity. Prior to joining the DOE, Shalaya spent over five years with National Grid, where she served as a safety and compliance officer. She has devoted the majority of her career to education, including teaching high school students engineering in energy, and serving as a board member for her alma mater, Georgia Gwinnett College. Shalaya is a highly regarded leader in the clean technology space, as evidenced by high-profile speaking opportunities around the globe. She has served her community in numerous ways including President of the Greater Boston chapter of the American Association of Blacks in Energy, the first African American board member of New England Women in Energy and Environment, and committee member of Browning the Green Space.

We knew given our common vision and Shalaya’s impressive background, this was going to be an interview for the books!

Speaking on camera on Labor Day in Somerville, our CEO, Colin Gounden asked Shalaya questions about her decision to work in the energy sector, who inspires her, and the ways companies can improve on their equity and diversity. Some of our favorite moments from the interview were when Shalaya beamed with joy as she talked about her daughter and teaching her about energy (catch the 6:35 mark for a cute story!).

For us at VIA, our favorite moments are always centered around our team and it’s clear Shalaya feels the same. Another favorite quote from Shalaya during the interview was when Colin asked, “Is there a special moment, favorite memory, or something you are most proud of in terms of accomplishments [in the last year at the DOE]?” 

“Oh, there are several. Most of them involve my team. I have an amazing team of people that are incredibly dedicated and talented. But, I will say, Alaska. One, I never thought I would get there. But, going to Alaska and seeing their fabrication lab. They have an amazing lab dedicated to natives there. And they have every piece of equipment. There is so much intention. They are still doing things like making drums the old school way…”

To hear the full response to this question (9:20 mark) and the entirety of the interview, watch the video below. Spoiler! you might hear a little something about a moose!

We’re thrilled to share that we have quite the line up of special guests for our VIA Visionaries exclusive interview series. Next week, Hilary Flynn of MassCEC will join us for a live-stream chat about Policy, Investment, and Climate. Be sure to follow VIA’s website and social media (LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Threads) for the latest on this series and more!

 

VIA Visionaries: Policy, Investment, and Climate with Hilary Flynn

Join Hilary Flynn, Managing Director, Investments at MassCEC and VIA CEO Colin Gounden for a discussion on sustainable investment strategies, the influence of finance on climate and policy, and the latest innovations driving climate solutions. Hilary has dedicated the majority of her career to the energy space and has a wealth of knowledge in commercializing new technologies, investments, and policy development. This is a chat you don’t want to miss! Tune in for the livestream of VIA Visionaries on October 12th at 2:30pm.

Fast and Curious 5: ZKPs Done Right

In the fifth and final installment of our summer learning series, we talk about zero-knowledge proofs and how they can be done right in just three ways. Watch the video and read the transcript below as we give the summer edition of the Fast and Curious a farewell for now!

Below is a transcript of the video:

Welcome back to Fast and Curious, the 2023 Summer edition.

Happy to have the opportunity to speak today. We’re going to talk a little bit about zero-knowledge proofs and particularly, doing them right.

It’s great that this mathematical obscurity from the 1990s has now become commonplace in certain parts of the Web3 and blockchain world. Software libraries and technologies are developing quickly in this space. We’re happy to have the opportunity to be involved with that.

But, they’re not as easy as they seem. And there are three practical tips that we’re gonna give here. Three tools to help people identify how they could be better in this space or make use of it.

First is, how do you create the ZKP?

It turns out that this is a more complicated endeavor than your average website or HTML page. It does involve some math. It is a mathematical property, and so you do need somebody who has some math skills for the specific application that you are creating. There is some good news about that, though. It’s getting easier. There are more tools and libraries available, and there are more and more ZKPs being created by others and being offered. And you may, for your specific use case, be able to just borrow or license the ZKP you need for your application.

Point two, how do you know whether the ZKP works?

By definition, the whole point of the zero-knowledge proof is zero knowledge. So, in that world, do you just trust that the code is working as promised, that the guarantee is real? Well, we think independent testing or having a third party who is trusted to be able to validate and say, “Yeah, that thing does what it says it’s gonna do,” is the best possible way. From our perspective, look for the people who are, or that is a trusted authority, and you can work with to validate and verify your zero-knowledge proofs.

And then the third one here is around cybersecurity.

We talk about blockchain. We talk about Web3. But it’s all just software. And software that is doing anything valuable at all, is going to be attacked. We live in this world where you can expect that. And so constant vigilance, as they say in Harry Potter, is the word of the day. You need to make sure that the software you’re writing is cyber secure and meets some cybersecurity standards, but also that you’re keeping up with a list of critical vulnerabilities and updating your software to make sure that there aren’t new vulnerabilities or it doesn’t become susceptible later.

With that in mind, from a VIA perspective, we work with a lot of folks in the Department of Defense. If you follow us at all on our blogs and announcements, you’ll have seen that. It’s not a secret. And one of the big reasons is that the DoD has terrific cybersecurity standards and a very published and public list of what they’re looking for. And we feel like if we’re meeting their standards, then we’re meeting a standard that could be met in the external world.

For our zero-knowledge proof specifically, most of the ZKPs are actually in energy. Did someone turn down their thermostat? Did they charge their EV at a certain time? Did they not charge their EV when they were supposed to? The Department of Energy has stepped in and offered help for testing and validating our zero-knowledge proofs, and we’re excited to see, so far so good, very positive results from that. And, we feel like having that imprimatur from third parties is valuable.

Can’t get enough of these Fast and Curious videos? Well, we want to hear from you! What topics should we cover next? Drop a note in our inbox to let us know: info@solvewithvia.com.

Fast and Curious 4: ZKPs 4 Collective Good (from Collective Action)

In the fourth installment of our summer learning series, we talk about how ZKPs can be used for the greater good. 

Below is a transcript of the video:

Welcome back to Fast and Curious.

Today we’re going to talk a little bit about use cases or what positive social impact we can get from things like zero-knowledge proofs. A saying we have at VIA is that “collective good comes from collective action.”  And what we mean by that is, when people work together, they can do incredible things.

National security is an example of that. We collectively gather together to defend our borders. Health is another example. People get vaccinated and we eradicated polio and smallpox by everybody saying, “Hey, the collective good has forced us to do something together. Let’s take the collective action of vaccination.”

Climate change is another one. We can mitigate climate change, if we all do our part.

For us to actually have the collective action yield collective good, we need to be able to trace, “I did this and the outcome actually happened.”

How can I know who did what?

How do I know they did or did not join the army? They did or did not get vaccinated? They did or did not turn down their thermostat or charge their electric vehicle at a certain time? I need to compare the individual and their actions and I need to link them in some way. Zero-knowledge proofs are a mechanism to be able to say, “we mathematically guarantee this action was taken. But, we’re going to keep the identity of the individual private.”

And so, some examples of collective good around this, related to our mission at VIA of cleaner, safer, more equitable communities are that we want to have cleaner air. Our intent is that the action of electrification will yield reduced asthma for children in neighborhoods around the urban cities around the world. How do we link the incidents of hospital visits by children and their asthma related incidents to the action of reducing electricity? Well, I want that linkage, but I want to keep the identities of those children and their health conditions private. ZKPs can deliver that mathematical guarantee of the action or the outcome while keeping the individual identity anonymous.

Another example is around safety. You are going to have a family, maybe for weather conditions or maybe for refugee status, take shelter. How do I know that the individuals showed up and were sheltered at that time and place they were supposed to be while keeping the identities of those individuals safe, secure, private, and anonymous?

And then, there are many examples where equity plays a role. There’s probably a whole video that we could spend just on that. One example here is preventing child labor. I want to verify the age of the workers and make sure that for each and every one, they are above whatever the age statute of limitations is in that jurisdiction.

Those are the examples of cleaner, safer, more equitable community use cases that we think have great social impact, great for the world, and are a good use for zero-knowledge proofs. We’re excited to have the opportunity to support those.

Disclaimer: In the spirit of staying current with the fast moving tech world, these videos are done in one take! The result is they are fresh but may be a little rough around the edges. Enjoy!