More than $5.6 million in blockchain grants has been released under the federal government’s Blockchain Pilots program.
The grants will help investigate the capability of blockchain in enhancing productivity and competitiveness of the country’s Critical Minerals and Food and Beverage sectors.
The Australian Government has funded two new pilot projects under the program, with the aim of demonstrating how blockchain technology can support supply chain solutions and help to ease regulatory burdens.
Related: Applications of Blockchain in Supply Chain
Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Christian Porter said the projects would help to accelerate Australia’s adoption of blockchain technology and assist businesses to solve real-world problems.
“The Blockchain Pilot Grants will demonstrate the potential for blockchain to help businesses to save money and cut red tape by improving processes such as tracking products throughout the supply chain and transferring customer information,” Minister Porter said.
“These two successful projects will also highlight opportunities to improve the technical and regulatory environment for blockchain in Australia, bolster blockchain literacy and support collaboration between Australian governments, the private sector and blockchain companies,” he said.
The Blockchain Pilot Grants builds on the National Blockchain Roadmap which ensures Australia is well-positioned to take advantage of the opportunities this technology can enable.
The two recipients of the Blockchain Pilot Grants are Everledger (QLD), which has received $3,000,000, and Convergence.tech (VIC), which has received $2,663,000.
Everledger will be using the government funding to investigate how blockchain tech can be used to create a ‘digital certification’ for critical minerals throughout the extraction and movement phases.
Meanwhile, Convergence.tech (VIC) will be using their funding to leverage blockchain technology to help automate key reporting processes under the Excise system, a commodity-based tax on goods including beer and spirits.
The grants are funded under the Australian Government’s Digital Business package, which was announced in the Federal Budget 2020-21, and directly align with the Government’s National Blockchain Roadmap released in February last year.
Blockchain is a digital ledger system that records transactions such as the movement of goods through a supply chain in a way that is extremely difficult to change or “hack” because the information is duplicated across a network of computers.
Source: Hon Christian Porter media release