The Government of Australia has always had a positive attitude towards cryptocurrencies and blockchain. Earlier this year, the Australian Supreme Court had also ruled on the classification of cryptocurrencies as property. To take decentralised empowerment forward, the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources in Australia had released the National Blockchain Roadmap (‘Roadmap’) for public comments from various stakeholders. According to the Australian government, the value derived from blockchain in business is estimated to be about USD 3 trillion by 2030. To leverage the most out of blockchain technology and help the community and industry in overcoming any difficulties in regulation, innovation and investment, the Government has released the blockchain roadmap.
The Roadmap
The Government has advised to set up a National Blockchain Roadmap Steering Committee (‘committee’). The committee would be in charge of taking next steps towards implementing the Roadmap. The memberships to the committee shall also be extended to key regulators and specific projects relating to blockchain can also be facilitated by the committee. The committee shall also have an incubator program to advise the Government on prospects and research in the field of blockchain.
The Roadmap also introduces to establish a ‘collaborative model’. This collaborative model would consist of Government, research sector and various working groups of the industry, all of which will provide equal funding contribution, to analyse further use cases for blockchain. This can also help in decisions which shall be taken by the committee on regulatory issues, and challenges in the experimentation and pilot projects.
The three main use cases that the Roadmap is focusing on are: a) agricultural supply chains in the wine sector; b) trusted credentials in the university sector; and c) transferable customer checks in the finance sector. However, the Roadmap shall also be investigating on a possible pilot project on Know Your Customer (KYC) checks. The Roadmap has also promulgated the establishment and coordination of users of blockchain and State and Territory representatives to analyse current and future prospects of use cases of blockchain in Government application.
An essential outlook towards looking at internationally applied use cases of blockchain has been provided in the Roadmap. The Australian Government shall be looking at international scenario to understand essential services which can be facilitated through blockchain, for this the Estonian model has also been provided in the Roadmap. For this purpose, the Government is also considering to sign bilateral agreements to consider collaborations and pilot projects in blockchain with other countries. The Government shall also be working closely with various programs of Business Research and Innovation Initiatives to identify the challenges and understand how blockchain can provide effective solutions. Blockchain shall be included in the broader policy engagements by the Government to ensure that capabilities around digital technologies are increased. The Government shall also work with educational groups to establish and increase literacy around blockchain and its use cases.
The Government shall also be working with Australian Trade and Investment Commission (‘Austrade’), to further the capability development for blockchain start-ups so that they may have a global presence. The Roadmap also suggest to link qualified start-ups or companies to ongoing Austrade programs such as Landing Pads. The Government shall also be working with Austrade to help in the facilitating of an investment program focussed on the Australian blockchain ecosystem. Moreover, the Roadmap has also ensured that the Australian Government shall work with relevant department to ensure that the businesses can connect with emerging digital trade infrastructure.
While the Government of India through Niti Ayog has also released a Blockchain: India Strategy, the Indian Government can focus on establishment of the committee and focussing on signing agreements with international associations to further implement and explore use cases. This will also help India to gain investment into the blockchain ecosystem.
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