South Korean Government announces plan to use beef-tracking blockchain

Seoul announced this week that a joint partnership between the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has implemented blockchain technology to track beef along the procurement and supply chain streams.

Yonhap reports that, “the program testing phase is scheduled for December and the official system launch is scheduled for January 2019.”

The ministries plan to distribute the digital ledger technology in order to “track beef through the supply chain to provide consumers with information about the source of their food.” Blockchain technology as a way to enforce accountability and transparency along the supply chain is one of the most common uses of the software.

In “August, the South Korean government announced that it was earmarking US$4.4 billion in its budget for 2019 to go towards eight critical sectors including blockchain, big data and artificial intelligence”, CNN reported.

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“The government will focus on promoting big data and AI, developing blockchain technology to ensure data management security and boosting the sharing economy,” according to a statement by the South Korean Government.

In August, the largest exporter of grain in Australia, the CBH Group, partnered with a local startup to use blockchain technology to track oat shipments. And this month, French supermarket Carrefour announced plans to use blockchain to track poultry shipments.