Australian Government budgeting $AUD700,000 for Blockchain Study

The next Australian budget was released last night by the current government. Usually I couldn't care less about the budget announcement, particularly one so close to an election, as the government of the day make things shiny and short sighted to grab for votes.

However, one thing did grab my attention and that was the allocation of AU $700,000 to the Digital Transformation Agency to explore blockchain applications within government services. Launched in 2015, the Agency helps government departments "undergo digital transformation," in addition to leading its information and communication technology strategy.

"The Government will provide $0.7 million in 2018-19 for the Digital Transformation Agency to investigate areas where blockchain technology could offer the most value for Government services," the budget document states.

This is not the first time that the government has investigated blockchain technologies and in 2017, the government provided more than AU $8 million worth of grants to blockchain-based smart utilities pilot project run by Power Ledger (POWR).

Source

It is interesting to see that Australian politicians are open to investigating how blockchains can be used to enhance government services. I will be watching closely to see where this goes as the government here seems more open to blockchain technologies than many other countries across the globe.

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