It seems as if the Land Down Under is looking to come out on top in terms of blockchain technology, as Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) has just revealed the creation of the ”Australian National Blockchain.”

More specifically, this venture is being undertaken by a data consortium which involves CSIRO’s ”Data61” divisions, the UK-based law firm Herbert Smith Freehills, and the American IT behemoth IBM.

The goal of the project is reportedly to construct a large-scale smart contract platform that businesses in Australia, across industries, can utilize in order to cooperate and do business with.

According to CSIRO’s announcement on the matter, this platform has the potential to become a significant part of ”Australia’s digital economy,” and will allow organizations to manage their ongoing contracts completely digitally.

This ranges from preliminary negotiations, to the moment of signing, as well as over the whole timespan of the agreement. In addition to this, the Australian National Blockchain (ANB) will allow firms to use blockchain-based smart contracts to activate business events and various processes.

The ANB will provide Australian businesses to use so-called ”smart legal contract” with smart clauses, which can work with and document information from other data sources.

The announcement from CSIRO mentions Internet of Things device data as such a data source, potentially allowing these smart clauses to automatically execute if special contract conditions are met.

Furthermore, CSIRO touts this project as the ”first large-scale, publicly available blockchain solution available to businesses of all kinds across Australia, and designed for Australian legal compliance.”

The step by CSIRO to create a ”national blockchain” that will be open to businesses across industries is a notable one – albeit not a departure from CSIRO’s earlier efforts to introduce blockchain.

In 2017, CSIRO’s division Data61 released exhaustive studies suggesting blockchain technology adoption strategies, both in commercial and governmental areas, to the Australian Treasury.

Nonetheless, the other partners in the blockchain pilot are similarly hopeful for what this landmark project might bring in terms of driving local innovation and the creation of ”productivity benefits.”

”Blockchain will be to transactions what the internet was to communication – what starts as a tool for sharing information becomes transformational once adoption is widespread,” the Vice President and Partner at IBM Global Services, Paul Hutchinson, stated.

”The ANB could be that inflection point for commercial blockchain, spurring innovation and economic development throughout Australia,” he continued.

Moreover, if this Australian pilot project of a national blockchain ends up being successful, the data consortium behind it intends to introduce the technology in markets outside of Australia.

Image Source: “Flickr”