Won Hee-ryong, the governor of Korea’s Jeju island, has announced a $5 billion government investment plan focused on developing blockchain and IoT technologies. According to a report from BlockMedia, the plan will focus on solving various public welfare problems the province faces and expected to create 44,000 jobs in the next five years.Major Korean province initiatives five-year technology development planKorea’s island province of Jeju has embarked on a massive, five-year journey to utilize emerging technologies in the public sector. Won Hee-ryong, the governor of Jeju, announced earlier today the province’s plan to spend more than $5 billion dollars on the development of blockchain, IoT, and big data technologies.According to a report from BlockMedia, a Korean blockchain news outlet, the program will be called the “Digital & Green New Deal,” and is set to bring around 44,000 jobs to the southern region.Through the deal, Jeju’s government plans on digitizing the island’s government. In an announcement earlier today, Governor Won said that the key tasks in the program include establishing a “smart city” infrastructure for disaster relief and traffic safety, a region-wide plan for the management of agricultural, seafood, and livestock products, as well as establishing a 5G drone hub.However, the biggest move from the government will certainly be turning Jeju island into a special blockchain zone that would nurture and support companies working on the emerging new technology.Jeju Island is setting the foundation for a digital futureThe plan, which is set to last until 2025, will see the establishment of a so-called “DB-Solution”—a model that utilizes integrated data management to solve various welfare problems in the region.According to the governor, the deal was initiated as a response to the “New Deal” announced by South Korea’s central government in July, which sets the foundation for economic recovery. Jeju’s own program has been in the works since August, with the local government spending the past two months employing various researchers, establishing a dedicated task force, and discussing the project with the provincial council.One of the first orders of business under the new deal will be to create a blockchain-based smart quarantine system in the region. The system, according to BlockMedia, will minimize the amount of personal information the government collects from its citizens by utilizing a blockchain decentralized identity authentication (DID) system. Back in August, the government of Jeju signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a Iconloop, a local blockchain company, to develop a tracking app that could be used both for tourism and safety tracking in the region.
