According to latest reports, Data61, a research unit of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), in collaboration with government agencies including Australian Federal Treasury, will undertake a review to fully examine the far-reaching potential and implications for both government and industry of the adoption of ‘blockchain’ technology.

The review will look to provide practical use cases where blockchain technology could be piloted in government services and the private sector. It will examine both trends in the uptake of blockchain technology and distributed ledgers, and future possible scenarios in Australia.

The study will be led by Data61’s expert blockchain research team headed by Liming Zhu and Mark Staples, with strategic foresight input from Stefan Hajkowicz from the Data61 Foresighting Team.

Hajkowicz said a number of potential ‘proof of concept’ projects will be evaluated in conjunction with industry experts and across government.

“There are currently a few potential areas where we could explore opportunities – such as sharable registry information, verifiable supply chains and assessment of aggregate risk exposure in the financial services sector,” Hajkowicz said. “In fact, there are also potential applications for this technology that extend well beyond the financial industry, and we are excited to explore, develop and apply the technology in both financial and non‑financial industry, in consultation with industry and government. Deployment of such technology could be most promising in government delivery applications”.

After consulting and evaluating suitable ‘proof of concepts’, an agreed ‘proof of concept’ trial will be developed to demonstrate the impact of the blockchain technology.

Australian government has been increasingly taking interest in blockchain technology. It believes that though in early stages, the technology has the potential “to radically simplify the way our market operates end‑to‑end, with significant benefits to investors, participants, regulators and government agencies.”

The government has welcomed the announcement by the ASX that it is exploring Blockchain technology for a new post‑trade solution for the Australian equity market. Furthermore, the Government has established a FinTech Advisory Group to advise the Treasurer directly on issues important to Australia’s FinTech industry, such as identifying areas of potential future reform, and ensuring that the specific priorities of the industry are considered in the implementation of government policies.