Electronic government of Australia

2018

Australia transfers digital driver's licenses to a blockchain

On August 20, 2018 the government of one of the Australian states, New South Wales, decided to address blockchain technology to implement the project on digitization of driver's licenses. The main testing of the project is planned for November, 2018, and official start of the program on condition of successful check – for 2019.

The system of issue of driver's licenses on the basis of a blockchain already passed successful primary tests in the Australian city of Dabbo in 2017. Within the main pilot project it is going to issue about 140,000 certificates for local drivers. The technology partner of the Australian government, Secure Logic IT company, undertook to provide a blockchain platform for storage and data protection.

The purpose of the new program is check of a possibility of use of a blockchain for authentication and document storage. Thanks to new technology users will be able to provide checking the digital credentials through mobile application. Thus, they should not have at themselves physical media of information any more to confirm the personality. Police officers will be able easily to specify necessary information in the general database.

The government of one of the Australian states decided to address to a blockchain- technologies to implement the project on digitization of driver's licenses

Transfer of a system of issue of driver's licenses to an electronic basis became possible after adoption in May, 2018 of the new bill: it allows to apply the distributed technologies to creation of the state services. The scheme of digitization of driver's licenses is included into the general complex of projects of Australia on implementation of blockchain technology within Digital Economy initiative. By September, 2018 the Australian federal agency specializing in scientific research works in cooperation with IBM on creation national a blockchain system which should allow the companies to perform any necessary transactions.^[1]

Digital driver's licenses

In May, 2018 it became known of the beginning of transition of Australia to digital driver's licenses. Almost in three years after it was for the first time announced plans for release of electronic certificates of the driver, the government of New South Wales announced approval of the bill resolving the motorist to show the rights using the application for smartphones.

According to the Minister of Finance of the state Victor Dominello, despite a delay, this bill – the first similar in Australia though South Australia technically entered optional use of digital rights in November, 2017. Later start of digital rights in other Australian states is planned.

Australia passes to digital driver's licenses

Smartphones became actually purses, and we use advanced technologies that drivers could have digital rights daily — Dominello said in the statement.

Implementation of the bill happened after carrying out large-scale tests in Dabbo with participation of 1400 drivers during the period from October, 2017 to February of the 2018th which went over with great success. It is noted that the satisfaction of drivers with this project made 83%.

According to Internet izadniye TechRadar, digital driver's licenses it will be possible to issue using the Service NSW application, since 2019, but specific date of start is not called.

According to the government of New South Wales, digital rights will increase security and will reduce the number of counterfeits in comparison with physical analogs and also will allow users to provide the identity certificate for an input in clubs or when checking on roads.

In spite of the fact that digital versions of driver's licenses will be available, their use is optional, and the traditional paper rights will still be issued — at least, some time.^[2]

2016: Project of "digital Australia"

The ambitious 10-year study program started by the Australian government agency CSIRO in February, 2016 assumes digitization of "all past, the present and the future".

The initiative under the name Oznome which is selected conformably to the project to interpretation of human genome of Human Genome Project began with digitization of data on the environment, reported the New Scientist edition.

As well as Human Genome Project, Oznome is the big mad idea which implementation, according to many people, is not represented possible, the head of the CSIRO research group David Lemon said.

For the embodiment conceived in reality it is going to find a method of consolidation of data of the state departments, research organizations, private companies and scientists. The purpose — to understand methods of interaction of the different systems and the phenomena in the hydrosphere, power, agriculture, health care, economy, etc.

By means of the system of digital representation of all in Australia are going to monitor influence of different factors on economy, society and ecology of the country

If CSIRO manages to execute conceived, then Ozonme will allow researchers to monitor, for example, the impact of climate change or ore mining industry on water supply or economic welfare of country people of Australia eventually.

This plan is similar to other large initiatives in the field of ecology, including to the American National ecological network of observatories (National Ecological Observatory Network) representing the system of continental scale for assessment of ecological changes.

In the long term the data received within Oznome can be used in the difficult models capable to predict future.

It is some dream for all of us who works with data. However it is very difficult to make it — the technical director of the London Institute of open data (Open Data Institute) Jeni Tennison considers.

For the solution of this task the command will need to focus on creation of different data sources which will be compatible with each other and are everywhere available.

We should solve a problem of data retrieval, access to them and also to be convinced that it is useful and can interact, David Lemon said.

According to him, Ozonme will also allow to cut down expenses on researches. In the normal CSIRO project about 30% of time and the budget leave on efficiency evaluation of works and project researches. If it is possible to automate at least a half of this work, the organization will be able annually to save about $54 million a year, Lemon estimates.

One of technical issues in project implementation of "digital Australia" is creation of the platform which will allow researchers to integrate data streams from different spheres, to process these data and to provide in clear for the person or machines a type.

Genie Tennyson reminds that the similar initiative is in Europe — under the name Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE). It is designed to adjust compatibility between the data on the environment arriving from the different countries. This project uses the format of the XML files started in 2001.

Now, 15 years later, it looks is old-fashioned. The scheme of interaction with information changed — Tennyson notes.

They consider the most difficult task which founders of Oznome should solve the cultural shift necessary for data acquisition from scientific and other sources for the purpose of exchange of this information.

According to Lemon, many companies which possess some data, consider that exchange of data brings a weak economic benefit. Therefore to convince them of need to invest in a data exchange system for receiving long-term income very difficult. Besides, some organizations earn from sale of the data by means of licensing.

Within Oznome specialists of CSIRO develop a water subproject of Oznome Water. His head Johnathan Yu (Jonathan Yu) notes the following:

From last projects we know that land use, water availability, hydrological modeling, subsoil waters and water quality are key in terms of different sciences. However data on such infrastructure usually do not exist.

Johnathan Yu and David Lemon remind of existence of an initiative of Sense-T which in 2011 was started in Tasmania. Within this project the system of digital representation of the state thanks to implementation of the different data sources and sensors located in all territory of the island was constructed. Sensors in real time announce weather conditions, level of a carbon dioxide gas, a physical status of animals, water supplies and use of energy. It found application in the solution of a number of practical tasks: for example, farmers can effectively irrigate the earth, obtaining data from humidity sensors.^[3]

See Also

• Electronic Government of the Russian Federation
• Electronic government of Great Britain
• Electronic government of Korea
• Electronic government of Kazakhstan
• Electronic government of Tajikistan
• Electronic government of Azerbaijan
• Electronic government of Australia
• Electronic government of Ukraine
• Electronic government of Estonia
• X-Road Платформа of interstate data exchange