South Korean Provincial Government Poised for Blockchain Boom

Today the governor of South Gyeongsang Province in South Korea announced plans to develop blockchain applications for mobile DID cards and reducing face-to-face contact to receive government services. In addition to the governor’s announcement at the 2020 Blockchain Public Pilot Demonstration Project by the governor, Dong-Eui University and Pusan National University were selected for Information and Communication Broadcasting training programs to harbor AI and blockchain advancements at a higher education level. Both revelations today in South Gyeongsang Province make even more apparent that the southern province is ready to rely strongly on blockchain technology to carry their government infrastructural growth into the next decade.

The Blockchain Pilot Project was created to build a platform to support DID verification, which was selected and promoted by the Ministry of Science and ICT and KISA. With the support of major players Raonsecure and Adbank forming a participation consortium, a digital system featuring public services is being developed.

The provincial government aims to look deeply at the capabilities of digital identifications, such as mobile ID cards, via blockchain technology to provide ID services more conveniently and safely to their residents. Ideally, citizens would be able to utilize their mobile/digital ID cards at government offices, public facilities, and at home to access various government services.

Our contemporary Corona period is shedding light on a near future where non face-to-face public services will need to be phased in relatively quickly and expanded on gradually as their feasibility becomes more apparent. The province envisions an arrangement where citizens would not need to visit a public place to enjoy certain public services.

The field is wide open for a better option to flash its best improvement to serve the public that is now happily bereft of the recently defunct and never loved digital identification verification system that granted access to various government services. It is clearly necessary to transform the public operating system that must accommodate a people whose needs will not disappear but whose physical presence may be prohibited for the time being.

Higher Education for the Future of Blockchain

While the DID services may be implemented in the near-term, area universities have been chosen to foster the young and growing minds to think in the long-term about how their government will better serve them. Dong-Eui University and Pusan National University, both in South Gyeongsang Province, have been chosen to feature training programs that are expected to foster AI and blockchain industry talents.

Today in an announcement made by the city of Busan, the two universities were chosen to accept grants from the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Information and Communication Planning and Evaluation. It should be noted that Ministry of Science and ICT has been behind a great deal of the recent public releases about government-sponsored blockchain projects across South Korea including mobile drivers licenses and blockchain training programs.

Dong-Eui University established the AI Grand ICT Research Center with a roughly $17mil investment from the university and government ministries. The Center will research AT technology integrations across existing fields, discover high value-added convergence products and services, and explore potential applications for global companies to secure their global competitiveness. Although the official statements are not clear, it appears that the global companies that will most benefit from the university’s contributions will be companies with the closest ties to the Korean government.

For the center at Dong-Eui University a program to focus on research in innovate technologies that combine AI technology with the marine, manufacturing, medical healthcare, and smart cities fields is being created that will offer a master’s degree in artificial intelligence specialized for SME to foster practical professionals with appropriate credentials.

Pusan National University will establish a blockchain platform research center with investments upwards of $500k to nurture human resources support for masters and doctors in blockchain. It will primarily focus on aid to start-ups with technology support.

South Gyeongsang Province as a Hotbed for Blockchain Development

Especially in Busan, blockchain technology development has risen significantly with the support from government ministries. Most notably is the Blockchain Regulatory Free Zone in Busan which boasts a bevy startups and monetary investments from major tech companies and government ministries eager to create or discover improvements to every Korean resident’s daily lives. Already 5 products of the zone are ready for the proving ground in real use across the metropolitan area.

Industries ranging from fintech to healthcare could rely on blockchain technology in the near future based on the research being done in Busan. Pusan University Hospital, the same university involved in the new research center, is also testing a medical records trading platform using blockchain. Also BNK Busan Bank launched their Fintech Lab this year. The major port in Busan is also currently utilizing a Hyperledger-based logistics program to help expedite movement of shipments in and out of the port.

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