The Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate has selected four startups to develop synthetic data generation capabilities for protecting privacy and mitigating security threats.

Betterdata, DataCebo, MOSTLY AI and Rockfish Data are expected to deliver synthetic data capabilities that replicate real data's shape and patterns, DHS said Tuesday.

According to Melissa Oh, managing director of S&T's Silicon Valley Innovation Program, the selected startups can provide agile and creative approaches to help the government address complex challenges like data privacy and security.

DHS awarded the contracts following the release of SVIP's solicitation in collaboration with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the DHS Privacy Office.

The request for proposals seeks to acquire synthetic data generation capabilities that would enable DHS to train machine learning models in scenarios where real data is either unavailable or poses security risks.

Commenting on the effort's progress, CISA Associate Chief of Strategic Technology Garfield Jones said investing in privacy-enhancing technologies and collaborating with industry partners will advance the overall privacy ecosystem and its stakeholders.

The selected awardees could potentially access up to $1.7 million in funding across the four stages of the SVIP project.