Category: Blockchain

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Australia Blockchain Industries

Blockchain-Backed Beef: Aussie Exporters Eyeball On-Chain Provenance for Chinese Market

© Emerson Vieira

Red meat accounts for around 1.5 percent of Australia’s GDP. For many years, Australia has consistently been one of the top five beef exporters in the world, with much of the exported beef going to one of Australia’s key business partners, China. Now, Australia Exporters are considering integrating blockchain technology to cement the Australian beef brand in China

But what do Chinese customers think of Australian beef, though, and how does blockchain technology relate to the Australian export beef market?

According to a recent study, Chinese customers are great fans of Australian beef. So much that they are willing to pay between 6.2 AUD and 11.27 AUD more for a 150 gram cut of beef — if they could be reassured that the beef was true blue through and through.

With this in mind, Australian brands, encouraged by the government, have settled upon blockchain technology as a way of reassuring customers worldwide that their fresh cuts are as authentic as the label states.

Recommendations published in the Australian Blockchain Roadmap state that in order to capitalise on Australia’s current technological standing and realise the potential of blockchain technology both locally and worldwide, Australian businesses must:

  • Integrate efficient, effective, and appropriate regulatory standards
  • Enhance critical blockchain skills in order to drive innovation
  • Establish strong international investment and collaboration — such as blockchain integrations into Australian beef exports

China Integrates Blockchain into Existing Supply Chain

Chinese commerce organizations have leveraged blockchain technology in order to track the provenance of products for some time now, with major enterprises incorporating blockchain elements in the supply chain to qualify product authenticity.

China Mobile, one of the leading telecommunications companies in China, has been distributing water purifiers whose usage was tracked through blockchain, rewarding users with free new water filters.

As a part of Australia’s greater roadmap for national blockchain development, Australian companies stand to benefit greatly from integrating blockchain technology into their business plans.

Not only are blockchain endeavors championed by the government, but they are also highly appreciated by clued-in customers who will use this technology to make more informed choices.

Setting an example for other high-profile Australian businesses who may be looking into adopting blockchain technologies, the Australian beef industry now has the opportunity to be a trailblazer that will soon lead to not only increased customer satisfaction but increased profit as well.

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Australia Blockchain Jobs

Aussie Uni Students Studying Blockchain Tech to COVID-Proof Careers

Demand for blockchain-skilled workers has skyrocketed in Australia over the last four years, resulting in a new surge of blockchain-savvy Australian university students ready to take the lead in Australia’s new blockchain economy. 

Blockchain industry jobs have exploded in the Australian tech economy. Data published by CSIRO’s Data61 digital specialist arm reveals over 200 percent year-on-year growth in the demand for blockchain skills in Australia. 

Over 50 percent of Aussie blockchain jobs demand expertise in the integration of blockchain technology into enterprise organizations. New university programs, such as the Master of Blockchain Enabled Business at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), focus on arming the next generation of Australian tech workers with the skills needed to incorporate decentralized technology into business applications. 

Australian Blockchain Industry Demands Skilled Workers

Data published by Data61 in partnership with Burning Glass technologies indicates that blockchain related job opportunities are growing at an exponential rate in Australia, with the most demand originating from industries such as systems design, higher education, accounting services, software publishing, and banking.

Australia is one of the fastest-moving countries internationally for blockchain technology adoption, with the Australian Government recently publishing a Blockchain Roadmap that will see the country become a leader in decentralization within the next decade.

Australian university students that study blockchain technology are presented with a wide range of opportunities — Data61 studies demonstrate that every Australian blockchain developer is provided with over 14 job openings on average, revealing a severe skill shortage. 

Aussie Blockchain Devs Cash in on Rare Skills

The lack of blockchain-skilled workers in the Australian digital economy provides blockchain developers with a significant financial advantage. Aussie blockchain developers earn an average of $100,000 per year, compared to the $69,000 average Australian software developer salary. 

By equipping themselves with the skills needed to succeed in the new digital post-COVID economy, Australian students that study blockchain technology are positioned to capitalize on a growing job marketplace in which their skills are in high demand.

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Australia Blockchain Trading

ASX May Push Ahead with Blockchain CHESS Replacement Sooner Than Expected Under Market Pressure

The Australian Securities Exchange has announced that an “overwhelming majority” of market participants are prepared to meet the revised start date of April 2022 for the launch of the new blockchain-based system that will replace CHESS, the current system used to settle share transactions.

Data released by the ASX indicates that over 90 percent of CHESS users are ready to meet the proposed date of April 2022, with ASX experts now reviewing consultation feedback. 

The launch of the blockchain-based replacement system, which was delayed in June 2020, will rely on heavy industry-wide testing over Q4 2020 in order to ensure that it is able to meet market demand. The ASX has stated that it is currently working on assessing feedback provided by CHESS users in order to meet the new implementation timetable.

Feedback from current CHESS users received by the ASX  reveals that 88 of the 96 CHESS users have provided submissions detailing their readiness to adopt the new blockchain-based settlement system, with 91 percent stating that they are able to meet the April 2022 go-live date.

Blockchain Technology Beats Legacy Clearinghouse Systems 

CHESS is the underlying system that performs clearing, settlement, asset registration in the equity market and, at the time of launch 25 years ago, was a world-leading digital equity management platform. As the underlying system that performs critical tasks in Australian equity markets, the ASX has recognized blockchain technology as a highly effective solution that will “provide a broader range of benefits to a wider cross section of the market.”

While the ASX has not yet announced a final decision on the go-live date of the new system, ASX chief executive Dominic Stevens has stated that the blockchain-based CHESS replacement system has “taken on even greater significance” due to the need for “digitisation and straight-through processing” revealed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“The CHESS replacement project has involved the most interaction ASX has ever undertaken with the market”

The launch of the blockchain-based CHESS solution will represent one of the largest strategic conquests for blockchain adoption, legitimizing blockchain and distributed ledger technology as a superior means of tracking, registering, clearing, and settling assets in equity markets.

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Australia Blockchain

Mastercard & Alibaba Join Forces with Blockchain Australia & VeChain to Track Aussie Food Exports

Global ecommerce giant Alibaba and international payment platform Mastercard have teamed up with Blockchain Australian in order to roll out a new VeChain-powered platform that will track Australian food and wine exports with blockchain technology.

Facilitated with the new APAC Provenance Council industry group, the new initiative will see the global tech giants team up to establish a new blockchain solution that will track, authenticate, and finance international exports sourced from Australian farmers.

Trade financing provided by Mastercard and Alipay will see Aussie farmers paid faster and earlier for the produce they create. The automated supply chain solution, powered by the VeChain blockchain, will be backed up by MasterCard Provenance. Mastercard’s blockchain solution will be used in a private, permissioned capacity in order to verify transactions for users.

Blockchain Supply Chain Initiative Targets Chinese Markets

The platform is primarily aimed at the $76 billion Chinese market, with APC co-founder David Inderias highlighting the importance of new technology focused on diversifying Australian food exports in the post-COVID market ecosystem:

“The overall theme of this is making more resilient export supply chains. One current complexity is COVID. The other is the economic and political trade circumstances, especially with China,’’

The APAC Provenance Council is the largest cross-continental doof supply chain and finance consortium operating in Australia, and is strongly supported by a range of industrial, government, and export bodies. The core founding members of the council include Australia Made, Blockchain Australia, VeChain, and FoodAgility CRC.

Operated by the Australian Government, the Food Agility Cooperative Research Center has recently captured the support of major enterprises such as Kelloggs, Mars, Coles, NAB, and IAG n funding a $10 million supply chain initiative focused on reinventing agribusiness supply chains. 

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Australia Blockchain China

Australia Under Attack: 3 Major Data Breaches Reported Daily as Gov Turns to Blockchain Solution

Data published by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner reveals that Australia is subject to nearly three significant data breaches every day, with leading cybersecurity and blockchain experts referencing China as the cause of ongoing cyber attacks. 

The January – June 2020 Notifiable Data Breaches Report, published by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), places the total number of reported data breaches across Australia for the last financial year at over 1,000. 

The OAIC’s Notifiable Data Breaches scheme from which the data presented in the report tracks the occurrence of data breaches in which personal information is accessed or distributed without authorization. While many of the breaches in the report are attributable to human error, hundreds of the breaches occurring between 2019 and 2020 were executed by malicious or criminal actors.

Australian Health & Finance Sector Targeted, Bank Details Leaked

Data breaches reported in the report were executed by a variety of means, such as social engineering, storage device theft, insider threats, phishing, and malware. The majority of attacks executed in the last year were associated with malicious actors gaining access to user data through phishing attacks, closely followed by ransomware attacks.

The Australian health sector was the hardest hit by cyber attacks, accounting for over 10 percent of all data breaches, followed by the finance sector. The number of users affected by the breaches exceeds 10 million, with the contact information of 84 percent of affected individuals released along with home addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses as well as passport numbers and license numbers.

Concerningly, data breaches reported to the OAIC in the same period contained tax file numbers, bank account details, credit card numbers, and health data.

Key Industry Experts Identify Blockchain as Solution to Cyber Threat

A panel discussion hosted on July 30 by recently appointed Blockchain Australia CEO Steve Vallas saw blockchain specialists and experts from various sectors come together to discuss potential cyber security solutions to address the ongoing cyber threat faced by Australia. 

The panel, consisting of liberal Senator Andrew Bragg,  CyberCX CEO John Paitaridis,  National Blockchain Lead Chloe White from the Department of Industry, and several other speakers identified blockchain technology as a key driver in protecting Australia from future cyber attacks. 

During the panel, CyberCX CEO John Paitaridis noted that attacks directed toward Australia are increasing in frequency, and identified China as the primary actor executing cyberattacks against the country:

“In June this year, the Australian Prime Minister announced an ‘unnamed state actor’, you can read into that — China — as being targeting businesses and government agencies across Australia as part of a large, dedicated, persistent scale attack.”

Blockchain technology, stated Paitaridis, is able to prevent the manipulation of data after publishing, preventing data tampering and addressing the vulnerabilities that are currently exploited by malicious actors in cyber attacks.  

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Blockchain Gold Perth

Perth Mint Partners with ASX-Listed Company to Launch Blockchain-Based Gold Consortium

The Perth Mint, Australia’s official bullion mint, has announced a new project that will expand the scope of an existing partnership with Security Matters in order to launch a new “trueGold Consortium.”

The new Consortium will see the Perth Mint and Security Matters (SMX), who announced a partnership aimed at digitizing precious metal earlier this year, gain equal partnership in a project focused on ethical gold supply chain assurance based on blockchain technology.

TrueGold is a blockchain-based platform designed to track and trace the movement of gold throughout the supply chain process, allowing key stakeholders including jewelry industry leaders, financial institutions, and consumers to ensure gold is ethically sourced.

The TruGold project is aimed at the often difficult to track supply chain ecosystem of the precious metals industry, and is focused on providing greater trust in gold — a key commodity and economic hedge during economic and geopolitical turmoil.

Described as a “mine-to-marketplace ethical gold supply chain assurance” system, the TrueGold platform created by SMX and the Perth Mint will incentivize the sourcing of gold from conflict-free areas, as well as minimize transactional risk. 

The new consortium follows the launch of a new digitized gold token issued by the Perth Mint. The Perth Mint Gold Token was announced in October 2019, and claims the title of the world’s first digital gold token based on a public blockchain network backed by real gold guaranteed by the Australian government.

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Australia Blockchain Industries

Australian Government Serves up $4mil in Grants, Supports Blockchain Food Tracing Startup

The Australian Government will distribute $4 million in funding to a variety of Australian tech startups and enterprises through the traceability grants program, providing blockchain-based farm-to-table supply chain systems with funding. 

The Department of Agriculture’s Traceability Grants Program, operating from  2019 to 2020 and 2022 to 2023, is aimed squarely at the Australian supply chain ecosystem and will see $7 million distributed across two rounds.

North Sydney-based blockchain startup FreshChain Systems is one of the first Aussie enterprises to receive an injection of capital from the grants program, and will use $195,000 in funding to launch a program that digitises end-to-end traceability in the agriculture sector.

The tech stack presented by FreshChain sits comfortably within the scope for the Australian Government’s Blockchain Roadmap. The FreshChain platform uses distributed ledger technology to create immutable provenance data for Australian food, providing traceability across the entire life cycle of food products.

Australian Blockchain Use Cases Expand Beyond Payments

In a press release published on July 27,  Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management Minister David Littleproud noted the broad use cases of blockchain technology:

“FreshChain’s end-to-end traceability system has broad applications across all food, fibre and agricultural products for authentication, provenance, food safety and consumer engagement,”

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdown has heightened consumer awareness of food provenance, creating fertile ground for the Sydney-based blockchain food tracing platform to grow. FreshChain is one of 16 Australian enterprises that will share in $4 million in funding under the first round of the Department of Agriculture’s Traceability Grants Program.

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Australia Blockchain

Australian Dairy Farmers Bring Milk Onto the Blockchain

Image by ArtTower from Pixabay

Australian dairy farmers have penned a deal with the Australian government that will see blockchain technology introduced into the daily supply chain, aimed at balancing the relationship between dairy processors and retailers.

The Australian dairy industry has recently presented a difficult landscape to Australian dairy farmers, who have struggled through both drought and bushfires. Decreasing margins have caused ongoing problems for Aussie farmers, who are facing an increasingly complex agriculture supply chain ecosystem,.

Over the last 30 years, the number of agricultural enterprises in Australia have dropped from over 15,000 to just 5,000 in 2020, with Australia’s share of the international dairy industry falling from 16 percent to just 6 percent.

Aus Gov Backs Cow-Powered Blockchain Project

A new deal signed between the Australian Dairy Farmers industry group and the Australian government, however, may function as a means for Aussie dairy farmers to wrestle back control over their industry,

The new deal will see the Aus government work with the ADF to develop a real time payment platform linked to a blockchain-powdered supply chain information system, allowing farmers to sell milk based on distributed ledger technology.

Terry Richardson, the President of the ADF, noted the importance of supply chain provenance and the implications of blockchain technology in the Australian dairy industry earlier this month:

“The transparency of shared information using blockchain technology empowers our dairy farmers. Blockchain will reduce costs to compete more aggressively in local and global markets. It will also allow greater knowledge of what happens to a farmer’s milk once it leaves their farm, and will provide consumers with trusted information about where their milk comes from.”

Integrating blockchain in the Australian dairy supply chain allows farmers to leverage better transparency over dairy product provenance, providing consumers with the ability to discern between different brands and the implications of supporting small Australian agricultural businesses versus supermarket chains and large processors.

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Blockchain Crypto News Payments

Eftpos Announces Partnership with Hedera to Launch Aussie Dollar Stablecoin

Eftpos — Australia’s largest debit card system, has announced a partnership with blockchain platform Hedera Hashgraph that will see the point of sale tech provider execute micropayments with an AUD stablecoin.

In an announcement published on July 22, Hedera Hashgraph stated that it would begin collaborating with eftpost Payments Australia in order to launch a micropayments proof of concept.

The collaboration, based on an Australian dollar stablecoin, is designed to test a new blockchain-based payment system that will function as an alternative to online paywalls or subscriptions.

Stephen Benton, eftpos CEO, stated that the integration of Hedera technology is part of a new innovation strategy designed to streamline the micropayment process.

The eftpos platform, which executes over 2 billion transactions worth over $130 billion annually, is focused on stress testing the capabilities of a new AUD stablecoin powered by the Hedera Consensus Service.

The core functionality of the new collaborative platform will allow Aussie consumers to load wallets with small payments and use them to pay for online content in a seamless manner.

The Hedera platform is a decentralized blockchain network that allows users and enterprises to create fast, scalable applications.

Eftpos appears to be pushing into new tech platforms as part of a forward-leaning strategy, recently partnering with Australia post to deliver a digital identify solution in order to connect merchants and government services. 

While the new Hedera and eftpos collaboration won’t result in an AUD stablecoin hitting the crypto markets just yet, the rapid adoption of blockchain technology by Australian payment processors represents a significant step forward toward a blockchain-powered future.

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Australia Blockchain Education

Australian Government Invites Aussie Blockchain Experts to Join Supply Chain & Credentialing Think Tank

The Department of Industry, Science, Energy, and Resources is putting together a team to build a blockchain-powered future for Australia — and they want Australia’s best and brightest blockchain experts on board.

The National Blockchain Roadmap Steering Committee published an announcement on July 9 seeking expressions of interest from the Australian blockchain community, inviting industry professionals to join working groups focused on the applications of blockchain technology in supply chain and credentialing use cases.

The Blockchain Roadmap Steering Committee, established in February 2020, is a collaborative endeavor between government representatives, academics, and industry experts operating with the goal of realising blockchain opportunities within Australia.

Australian Government Aims for Digital Economy Dominance by 2030

The formation of the two new working groups is driven by the Q1 release of the committee’s blockchain roadmap, which establishes a number of goals for the implementation of blockchain technology that include the development of frameworks for blockchain education, the creation of support programs for blockchain startups. 

The overall goal of the committee is to establish Australia as a leading digital economy by 2020. Digital Economy and Technology Division Head and Steering Committee Chair Narelle Luchetti clarified the purpose of the new working groups in the July announcement, highlighting a focus on supply chain and credentialing use cases:

“By recognising the rich opportunities that exist to leverage blockchain across our economy, these collaborative working groups will play a central role. They will help progress two important use cases for this technology – supply chains and credentialing.”

Working Groups Will Focus on Agriculture & Education

The Roadmap Steering Committee is currently seeking expressions of interest from professionals that can share expertise on blockchain development, advise on the specific economic opportunities presented by blockchain, and assist in identifying potential barriers to adoption.

The two working groups will focus on the applications of blockchain technology in credential management in the education sector, as well as blockchain-based provenance in the supply chain industry with a focus on the agriculture sector.Interested blockchain industry experts and academics can find more information, as well as a submission form for expressions of interest, as via the National Blockchain Working Group website.