The recent pandemic caused nothing but destruction to the entire globe. While the medical sector was in desperate need of people, several other sectors let go of people in huge numbers. With economies crashing, several governments were seen steering towards exploring the prospects of digitalization. Australia seems to be the lastest one to jump the bandwagon.
Australia Veers Towards Digitalization
As per Reuters, the Australian government revealed that it would pour about 800 million Australian dollars which is approximately, 566 million USD as a part of its step towards embracing digitalization. Since the COVID-19 pandemic had caused the halt of every other business, the government intends to aid businesses to move their administration as well as regulatory compliance to the virtual world.
These funds would be allocated on 6 October 2020 during its annual budget that had been postponed from May 2020. Prime Minister Scott Morrison detailed,
“Many businesses moved online quickly when the pandemic hit, undergoing a decade of change in months, finding new customers or new ways of doing things.”
The step towards digitalization by the Australian government could boost the growth of digital assets in the country. While that remains uncertain, Australia will reportedly be spending a total of $6.9 million to test the prospects of blockchain technology. Australia was one of the very few countries that shed light on the legality of crypto, however, it does not recognize crypto as money.
Blockchain technology has undoubtedly taken over every country and mainstream company. With Australia pouring millions into testing the use of blockchain, the technology could witness a spike in its adoption. At the beginning of 2020, the Department of Industry, Science, Energy, and Resources of Australia rolled out a roadmap pertaining to blockchain tech in the country. The national blockchain roadmap highlighted the potentials of blockchain particularly in favor of the local economy in the next five years.
Elaborating on the distribution of the funds, the federal government is said to allocate about 420 million Australian Dollars to over 30 companies that are registered to the country. With this move, the country hopes to permit businesses to set up their online platforms as soon as possible. Furthermore, a total of 257 million Australian dollars will reportedly be given to expanding a digital identity system. This would further allow individuals to directly be in touch with the government internet portal. These individuals would be presented with a director identification number, in order to eliminate “phoenix” activity.
While 29 million Australian dollars would be poured into the development of 5G internet, the rest of the 28 million Australian dollars would be allocated to endorse open banking. The article further reads,
“[….]supports Australia’s economic recovery by removing out-dated regulatory barriers, boosting the capability of small businesses, and backs the uptake of technology across the economy”.