Seoul Mayor Announces 5-Year Mega Plan for Elevating Blockchain Tech Sector

Park Won-soon, a mayor of Seoul, has brought a 5-year plan for creating and progressing blockchain technology sector in the city, according to the Thursday, October 4 report from local news outlet Yonhap News.

The project dubbed "Blockchain City of Seoul" has several measures for elevating and developing blockchain technology-related initiatives plus education in Seoul from the year 2018 to 2022, Won-soon noted in his speech on Thursday. 

Industry Experts to be Trained 

By the year 2022, Seoul plans to configure a public-private fund of $88.2 million with the aim of investing in blockchain technology startups in the city. The fund will obtain $11.9 million from Seoul city government. 

Further, Seoul city authorities are considering spending $53.1 million on forming two business hubs to accommodate 200 blockchain companies by the year 2021. The two upcoming infrastructures, that will be placed in the southeastern and western regions of the city, will run two educational hubs, focusing on training 730 blockchain sector experts in the next half a decade. 

As per ZDNet Korea, Won-soon also revealed plans to use distributed ledger technology (DLT) in the administration of Seoul. Beginning 2018, authorities are considering to roll out 14 blockchain-powered systems such as vehicle history reports, voting system and charity management. 

DLT the Basis of IT 

Won-soon commented that blockchain technology is undoubtedly "the core technology of the fourth industrial revolution," and will be the foundation for the future of information technology (IT). By launching the new plan, Won-soon plans to make Seoul "the hub of a blockchain industry ecosystem."

In August of this year, South Korean authorities proclaimed a move to develop 8 major sectors of the local economy, including DLT, by putting in $4.4 billion next year. The local government has purportedly chosen to multiply the total sum of funds spent on things like big data, artificial intelligence and DLT by 65% from approximations earlier 2018.