South Korea has announced a Blockchain technology pilot that will be used to track the movement of beef through the supply chain network.
Blockchain Technology To Make Process Easier
According to the reports made by the Yonhap News Agency, the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs will be partnering in in the undertaking. The pilot will be launched next month, December, and is set to take place in North Jeolla Province. The trial period will be conducted over a short period after which the formal launch of the Blockchain application will take place at the beginning of the coming year.
With the current system, cattle are tracked through a paper-based system from birth to the slaughterhouse through to how the resulting product is packaged and distributed to consumers. As with every other paper based system, this one tends to not only be time consuming but also resource intensive. The possibility of fraud also taking place is high.
Through the Blockchain technology, this whole process is expected to be made easier and run more efficiently. It will also close the loopholes through which fraud takes place as Blockchain technology assures a fraud-proof system.
Promotion Of Blockchain Technology In The Country
The move to run a Blockchain based pilot in the tracking of beef through the system is the latest in a series of Blockchain based applications sanctioned by the South Korean government. Three months ago, in August, the government announced that it will be allocating $4.4 billion of its budget next year to go towards sectors like Blockchain, artificial intelligence, and big data.
The South Korean Finance ministry in a statement reiterated that the government is focused on the promotion of big data and AI as well as the development of Blockchain technology. This according to the statement is to maintain data management security and promote of the sharing economy.
South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT is also driving the promotion of education and training on Blockchain technology to the youth with the aim of preparing them for what it has termed as the fourth industrial revolution. Because of this Blockchain technology is now a part of the curriculum in most of the recently added courses.
Government Backed Uses Of Blockchain Technology
One of the most vocal and prominent proponents of the distributed ledger technology within the South Korean government has been Kim Dong-Yeon. He is the minister of finance for South Korea and has stated that the disruptive technology has the potential of completing transforming the world. He has been an avid opposer of the proposed ban on local Crypto exchanges.
The finance minister has been on record stating that Blockchain technology could very well rise up to be one of the most critical pillars of the fourth industrial revolution. He was quoted as saying that Blockchain will be a core infrastructure to the revolution and that its development will very well change the world as we know it.
Apart from the use of Blockchain technology in the tracking of beef, the South Korean government has also backed the use of Blockchain technology in paying out insurance claims.