The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Internet Security Agency (KISA) announced last week their list of publicly led and privately led blockchain trial projects for 2020.
The government has been selecting such projects since 2018 in order to cultivate blockchain technology and expand related services.
On the publicly led side, the ministry and KISA selected 10 consortiums consisting of 24 companies to work on 10 public tasks. These are:
- An integrated chronic disease management platform for Gangwon Province (with the participation of ICONLOOP)
- A digital evidence management platform for the national police
- A crop production and distribution platform for the rural development agency
- A welfare benefit management system for the Ministry Health and Welfare
- A foodstuff safety data platform for the food and drug safety authority
- A DID-based local public service platform for South Gyeongsang Province
- A trust platform for autonomous vehicles for Sejong City (see below)
- A mutual trust toll payment platform for the highway authority
- A smart water quality management system for Busan
- A battery life cycle management system for electric cars for Jeju
On the privately led side, there are three consortiums of 12 companies working on three tasks. These are:
- A smart digital freight transportation platform
- A support system for untact video and audio contracts for small businesses and private contractors.
- An individual-focused mobile medical document platform.
LG CNS, the information technology wing of LG Corporation, is participating in four of the projects: three publicly led ones and one privately led one.
Also in the Korean blockchain space…
(Mohammad Musharraf, Cointelegraph, May 9)
South Korea’s “smart” city and de-facto administrative capital Sejong is creating a blockchain-based identity management and verification platform for self-driving cars. Such a system would help prevent the cloning or hacking of autonomous vehicles.
(By Ledger Insights, May 4)
The Seoul suburb of Bucheon is also running a smart city project that uses blockchain to solve the local parking problem. The project, initiated by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, has reportedly “secured 280 shared parking spaces, increasing the supply and demand ratio to 109% from the previous 37%. Additionally, illegal parking saw a decline of 41%.”
(By Tim Alper, Cryptonews, May 8)
South Korea’s plan for overcoming the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic by utilizing Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies, including blockchain. “How might governments try to drag their economies out of the mire when the coronavirus pandemic finally subsides?,” writes Tim Alper in Cryptonews. “Many of those interested in peering into the future are looking to South Korea, where the powers-that-be are already outlining their post-pandemic economic recovery strategies – plans that appear to include industry 4.0 innovations like blockchain technology.”
(By TokenPost, May 8)
As we’ve written before, South Korea’s rating system for games has proven a headache for blockchain gaming. But perhaps not for much longer. Believing that the COVID-19 pandemic could provide the local gaming industry with an opportunity to take it to the next level, Seoul recently announced a comprehensive plan to promote the game industry that includes support for the production of games using Industry 4.0 technologies such as blockchain. The plan also calls for the establishment of clearer ratings guidelines to improve predictability.
