South Korea Announces $880 Million Investment For Blockchain And Other Technologies
South Korea will not lag behind as other countries continue to allocate huge troves of money on emerging technologies. The government has since announced plans to invest over $800 million to boost innovations around blockchain technology among other emerging technologies.
Deputy Prime Minister Kim Dong Yen made the investment pronouncement at the 5thMinisterial Meeting in Growth through Innovation. The investment is part of the government’s latest push that seeks to focus on technologies that have the potential to have a powerful and far-reaching impact on various sectors of the economy.
The projects that the government plans to focus on with the investment include the building of a digital platform for big data and artificial intelligence. The government also intends to spur innovations that will come with blockchain solutions for securing data transactions and sharing. There are also plans to set up a hydrogen fuel cell supply chain.
“We will draw up a 5-year plan for the four projects, which will clearly show our mid-term goals and will help other industries related develop. With regard to budgets, we will spend a total of 5 trillion won in 2019 on the platform economy and the eight pilot projects,” a note on the Ministry of Economy Website
$880 million financing for 2019 fiscal year. The allocation represents an 80% increase to 2018 allocation.
The government intends to spend between $8 and $9 billion over the next five years as it looks to leverage the benefits of emerging technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence. It is still unclear how the government intends to spend the money as it is yet to provide a clear breakdown.
South Korea joins a growing list of countries that have taken a keen interest on blockchain technology, which is proving to be extremely valuable in solving decade-long issues especially in the financial sector. The ministry of ICT has already allocated $9 million to finance startups working on blockchain innovations around the country.
The government has also set up industry-specific research centers tasked with the responsibility of analyzing cryptocurrency market conditions at home and abroad. In addition, the ministry of ICT is also working with other government agencies as part of a six pilot programs set to adopt blockchain innovations in the public sector.