Australia’s federal government has given AU$5.6 million in grants to two companies it hopes will deliver successful blockchain-based supply chain solutions.
Funding was provided through the Blockchain Pilot Grants Program, which aims to examine the blockchain’s ability to improve the productivity and competitiveness of Australia’s oil and food sector.
Everledger and Convergence.tech were given the funding to demonstrate how the emerging technology can support supply chain solutions and help to ease regulatory burdens with their respective pilot projects.
Industry Science and Technology Minister Christian Porter hopes the projects will speed up Australia’s adoption of blockchain technology and lead businesses to solve real problems.
Everledger pocketed AU$3 million to study how blockchain technology can be used to create digital certification for critical minerals in the extraction and movement phase.
Convergence.tech, on the other hand, will take just over AU $2.6 million to use blockchain to help automate reporting processes under the Excise system, which is a commodity-based tax on goods like beer and spirits.
The grants are funded under the government’s Digital Business package, which was part of the 2020-21 federal budget and is part of the government’s National Blockchain Roadmap, released in February 2020, which consists of 12 “signposts.”
For more information, read the original story in ZDNet.