Australia to spend $71K on blockchain

Blockchain Strategy: Australia to spend $71K on blockchain technology

Giving the worldwide acceptance of blockchain technology, many countries of the world are working hard to utilize the benefits. One country which is about to move to the next level in the tech is Australia. Recently, the minister for investment, trade & tourism, Karen Andrews announced the country’s plans for her blockchain industry. According to the press release, the government has made plans to place the industry at the front lines amongst others. 

From what she wrote, the strategy of the government join hands with industry and achieve sustainable development. They will explore how they can make the tech beneficial for the industry and the users as well. She went further to encourage the citizens to utilize the many opportunities which the blockchain technology presents.

The minister further announced that the government would create the roadmap for the project. According to her, the roadmap will take care of some policy areas. Some of the words she used to explain the policies include innovation, skills & capacity building, collaboration, and international competitiveness.

The press release also revealed that the trade & investment commission plans to contribute $71,000 for the project. The funds will aim to support start-ups who are eager to partake in Coindesk’s Conference. Coindesk’s Consensus program will be coming up in May and will be taking place in New York.

Australia’s interest in the blockchain industry

According to the insinuations by the minister of investment, the Australian government will work with experts to complete the project.   Also, they want it to contribute to government reports into the use-cases of the blockchain technology.

Apart from this present contribution to develop the industry, the government has made other investments for it in time past.  Last year, the Australian government spent AU$700,000 in a project they called “Digital Transformation Agency.” The agency was established to investigate the suitability of the blockchain tech for government payments distribution. I guess that’s why they spent such amount from the tax of the citizens.

We also recall that the government spent another AU$350,000 to enable them to create “International blockchain standard and International Organization for Standardization.”

Recall the biggest of them all which was the use of AU$1 billion to enter into a five-year contract in 2018 with IBM. The Australian government spent that money on blockchain solutions that will help them save the taxpayers money. Well, the aim was to save $70 million every year, but many people criticized the project.

Given their past attempts so far, it is important that this project comes to fruition. The skepticism about it is the question of whether the amount and the roadmap are enough to achieve their purpose.

If this is what it will take, why should the country spend $1 billion on a contract with IBM? According to the investment minister, the Australian government will create a road map for the project. As of now, the plan is still not available to the general public. We are hopeful that more information will be available when they ready.