IBM Secures $740M Contract with Australia to Develop Blockchain, Other Technologies

IBM has secured a 1 billion Australian dollar ($740 million) contract with the Australian government that would see it develop blockchain and other tech innovations to improve multiple sectors of the country. Along with blockchain, the New-York based tech firm will also be working on automation and artificial intelligence (AI) to be incorporated into the services of Australian federal divisions, including defense and home affairs, Cointelegraph reported.

Harriet Green, IBM’s Asia Pacific head, recently said in an interview with Bloomberg that the partnership will yield significant improvements in the lives of Australia’s populace. The government is poised to take advantage of the many benefits that blockchain will bring, including improved transparency, accelerated transaction processing, accurate real-time tracking, and more.

Additionally, blockchain and AI technology can be melded together to produce a far more efficient system. Indeed, some sectors in the medical field have already made progress in combining these two innovations, resulting in a far effective platform compared to when blockchain and AI were separate.

Green said that the contract can propel Australia to the top three governments in the world that have transitioned to the digital space. During the interview, the IBM head also repeatedly stressed that the data security of Australia’s citizens will be bolstered through this five-year contract.

One of the partnership’s goals is to save the Australian government millions of dollars in taxpayer money by improving the current system of multiple agencies. A recent blockchain report authored by one of U.K.’s parliament members estimates that the technology can increase the government’s efficiency by 1 percent.

This seemingly small improvement is evaluated to save the country around 8 billion pounds ($10.5 billion) based on the current data on operational costs. This amount can then be allocated to easing the burden of paying taxes or to improving other systems that may be causing unnecessary expenditures.

The Australian government granting IBM this huge a contract may very well have arrived at the same conclusion. However, some Australians are rather skeptical about the partnership since IBM botched the country's 20-year national census project. The tech company paid the Australian government 30 million Australian dollars in compensation.