The South Korea government will invest over $880 million next year in order to boost the development of innovative technologies including blockchain.
According to a government release on Tuesday, South Korea’s deputy prime minister Kim Dong Yeon hosted a ministerial meeting on Aug. 13 to address the administration’s investment plan for innovation growth in the next five years.
Data disclosed on the website of the Ministry of Economy and Finance shows that the government is set to allocate 1 trillion won, or about $880 million in 2019 – an 80 percent growth compared to that in 2018 – to invest in technologies including blockchain, big data and AI.
Further, the authority said it will invest a total of $8 – 9 billion in the area in the coming five years. The goal is to “focus on promoting big data and AI, developing blockchain technology to ensure data management security and boosting the sharing economy,” according to the statement.
While the high-level investment plan offers little detail on how much exactly will be budged for blockchain-related projects, the effort follows previous news that the Ministry of ICT said it will allocate $9 million in 2019 for blockchain startups.
CoinDesk reported in June that the Ministry of ICT is working with other government agencies to develop six pilot programs that will adopt blockchain in major public services.
from: https://www.coindesk.com/south-korea-budgets-880-million-for-tech-including-blockchain/