Australian Government and IBM will implement blockchain and AI in public administration

Australia plans to enter the TOP-3 digital and blockchain-savvy countries by 2025. To reach this goal, a five-year landmark contract has been signed between the Australian Government and the technology giant IBM. The contract is worth USD $740 mln and is supposedly one of the biggest to be signed by the authorities.

According to the agreement, IBM is to develop the decentralized technologies for Australian Government structures. The tech giant will implement the newest technological solutions like blockchain, automatization, quantum and artificial intelligence in various spheres of public administration and social environment. Particularly, expert knowledge and development of IBM will be used to create secure database systems in Australia, New Zealand and the neighboring islands of Pacific Ocean.

David La Rose, managing director of IBM Australia & New Zealand, provided his comments:

“This agreement is a testament to our forty-year partnership with the Australian Government. It shows trust and belief in our ability to transform and provide world-leading capabilities, leveraging our investments locally in AI, the blockchain, quantum, and cloud. We look forward to helping the Australian Government to re-define the digital experience for the benefit of all Australians.”

IBM signed the agreement which runs through June 2023, with the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) being a direct customer. IBM and DTA agreed to create a working group which consists of government officials and business representatives to focus on the creation of new technologies for user services.

This is not the first attempt at collaboration for IBM and Australian Government. Previously, both successful and unsuccessful projects were launched. For example, a plan for creating an online data-collecting portal in 2016 was a failure. As a result, IBM was due to compensating $30 mln to the Australian Government.

Image: itbrief.com.au