Australian State to Pilot Blockchain in Digital Driver License Scheme

Australia's New South Wales government is adopting blockchain in a state-wide test of its driver license digitalization program scheduled for November.

The NSW government announced on Aug. 20 it will conduct the pilot for 140,000 license holders in the state prior to a formal roll-out in 2019.

Secure Logic, an Australian IT firm and technological partner of the state government, said on Monday its blockchain platform will underpin the initiative to secure data in a distributed fashion.

Called TrustGrid, the blockchain platform was already adopted in a preliminary pilot of the scheme conducted in the state's Dubbo city last year, as ZDNet reported on Monday.

The goal of the new program is to use a distributed network to authenticate and store driver license data so that users can present their digital credentials via a mobile application.

The initiative follows a bill passed in May that granted the legality of government projects that seek to let residents present license data digitally via a blockchain-powered network, the report said.

The scheme is in line with the country's overall goal of adopting blockchain and distributed ledger technology as part of its Digital Economy initiative, as CoinDesk reported last year.

Currently, an Australian federal agency focused on scientific research is also working with IBM to develop a national blockchain aimed to let businesses carry out transactions based on smart legal contracts.

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