The Korea Internet Security Agency (KISA) will be supporting blockchain-related projects in 2020 with 10.5 billion won, about $9.0 million, in funding, but has ruled out supporting crypto projects or crypto exchanges.
On October 28 (Monday), according to an announcement from the agency, it will be the third year of such support from the KISA, which is under the Ministry of Science and ICT. The plans were discussed at a meeting held in Seoul on Friday last week.
According to Min Kyung-Sik, the Head of KISA’s blockchain center, about 10 projects will be chosen for next year while one or two of them will receive funding over a number of years. The maximum funding will be $1.2 million per project.
However, both public sector and private sector projects will be eligible to apply, and the application will be taken through November 11 with results to be announced on December 20. Likewise, the public sector includes any of the 400 government and government-related entities, such as central agencies, regional organizations, and public institutions.
While KISA ruled out the support of cryptocurrency projects and crypto exchanges, it does leave the door open for the projects pursued by major financial institutions that may involve tokens.
It has been said that the 2020 plan is a step back from the commitment this year. In 2019, 12 projects were supported with a total of $11 million of funding.
<img src="https://www.cryptonewspoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Korea-Blockchain-Enterprise-Promotion-Association-Urges-State-to-Incorporate-Cryptocurrency-and-Blockchain-Technology-With-New-Regulations.jpg" alt="KISA blockchain" class="wp-image-4184 lazyload" width="459" height="296" />
KISA notes that this year, the program included direct funding of $6 million and expense reimbursement of $5.4 million. However, the average funding per project will remain the same in 2020.
So, this year, projects included a donation platform, Hyundai Autoever’s used car service platform, and the Initial blockchain ID platform, which was supported by all the major phone companies in the country.
Other projects in 2019 included a records-management system for the National Archives, a network for the sharing of medical information, a system for food safety, an electric-vehicle battery record system and a carbon-emissions record system.
Thus, during the meeting held last week, the Korea National IT Promotion Agency (NIPA) also promised continued support for blockchain-related projects.
Source: gov.kr | coindesk.com