Australia Unveils National Blockchain Roadmap With Additional Government Funding

The Australian government has set aside another AU$100,000 (~$71,200), while introducing a roadmap on blockchain strategy. The details were jointly presented by Karen Andrews, Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, and Simon Birmingham, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment.

The new policy roadmap intends to turn Australia’s budding blockchain industry into a worldwide leader. The detailed plan covers the development of blockchain “regulation, skills and capacity building, innovation, investment, and international competitiveness and collaboration.”

Per the media reports, earlier blockchain investments from Australia’s liberal national government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Scott Morrison, includes AU$700,000 (~$500,000) to the nation’s Digital Transformation Agency in 2018-19 in order to study the advantages of using blockchain for government payments, along with AU$350,000 (~$250,000) to Standards Australia for promoting the advancement of consistent global blockchain guidelines.

The latest round of funding will particularly facilitate the Ministry for Industry, Science and Technology to back Australian companies to take part with the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade)’s mission to the Consensus blockchain conference in New York City in the second half of this year.

Minister Andrews has further highlighted that they “will work closely with blockchain and technology experts from industry and academia […] as well as with CSIRO’s Data61 to incorporate findings from their forthcoming future scenarios report on blockchain.”

CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization) is a corporate entity of the Australian government that carries out scientific studies to promote domestic companies. To date, its digital research and innovation hub, Data61, has led several main blockchain projects.

According to the media release, Minister Birmingham stressed that the government’s blockchain ratification will assist in ensuring that “Australia and [its] tech companies stay ahead of the game in one of the world’s fastest growing technology sectors.”

In the bygone year, crucial strides have been taken in Australia to incorporate blockchain across both the financial and government sector. In July 2018, IBM inked a five-year AU$1 billion ($740 million) contract with the Australian government to utilize blockchain and other latest technologies to enhance data security and automation throughout federal branches.