South Korea to Make Government-led USD 383m Blockchain R&D Drive

The South Korean government will stump up USD 383 million worth of funding for Seoul-led blockchain research incentives over the next six years.

Per a report from ZDNet Korea, the country’s Ministry of Science and ICT plans to utilize the funds to develop original blockchain technology, with the government taking the lead in creating a blockchain-powered “data-driven economy.”

The government is thought to be keen to work on projects including improving the reliability of smart contracts, boosting cross-blockchain platform interoperability and developing consensus algorithms that will help overcome performance, stability, and scalability issues.

Seoul is also believed to be favoring open-source blockchain technology.

The same media outlet quotes an unnamed government official who is “familiar with the project” as saying,

“We need to overcome data trust problems in order to activate a data-driven economy. Blockchain technology can help create a base of trust for data sharing.”

The same official also said that the new funding drive was not an attempt to make South Korea the “world’s leading blockchain nation,” but rather a genuine, concerted drive to improve the nation’s economic development.

Readers may recall that earlier this week, researchers in Japan claimed that China is currently leading the global blockchain patent registration race – although South Korean companies and government agencies followed in second place, registering 1,150 applications in the period 2009-1018.

Also, as reported, South Korea’s blockchain industry is experiencing teething issues – while only 20% of domestic blockchain-related companies are actually selling anything.