Tag: jeju island

South Korea’s Jeju Island Leverages Blockchain to Curb Depleted Electric Vehicle Batteries

Jeju Island’s government representatives have revealed that a blockchain-powered electric vehicle waste-battery distribution management system has been implemented based on multi-year support. The island is categorized under South Korea’s special self-governing zones.

The blockchain-based management system will track the history of receipts of waste-batteries acquired at the Jeju Technopark Electric Vehicle Battery Industrialization Center opened in June 2019. The information obtained will include details about various releases, classifications, and inspections based on records found on the blockchain. 

Blockchain in the electric vehicle industry

The electric vehicle sector is experiencing considerable growth because of benefits, such as reduced fuel costs and lower car emissions. As a result, electric vehicles are offering environmentally friendly solutions based on decreased carbon pollution. 

The blockchain-propelled management system intended for the distribution history of electric vehicle batteries was established in December 2019 after receiving a $1 million grant from LG CNS, a subsidiary of LG Corporation offering IT services. It emerged the best among 12 projects, and the Korean government has vowed to support it with a $580,000 grant, as well as a private support matching program. 

This pilot project won the hearts of government officials based on its capability of propelling the development of the electric vehicle industry. It is expected to boost the distribution market of energy storage devices (ESS), such as EV batteries, as well as offering the basis for the standardization of battery performance evaluation attributes. 

The future strategy director of Jeju Island, Heesop Roh, noted, “Recent national security improvements can be attributed to the 4th industrial revolution and the achievements that Jeju Island has made even within budgetary constraints.”

Through a government pledge of approximately $410 million, the Ministry of Science and ICT is planning a large blockchain R&D project to determine the feasibility of blockchain technology research through 2025. 

In 2020, a nation-wide selection of 10 projects will be made to be part of the blockchain-powered electric vehicle waste-battery distribution management program based on its prolonged implementation.  

Image via Shutterstock

Korea’s Jeju Island Introduces Blockchain-Fueled COVID-19 App for Tourism

To recover from COVID-19 tourism losses, South Korea has introduced a blockchain-powered digital app for visitors of Jeju Island to ensure safe travels. 

Even among South Koreans, Jeju Island is a hot spot for tourism and boasts of approximately 15 million visitors per year.  

COVID-19 Travel App 

In order to stimulate the tourism industry during COVID-19 and to ensure safe traveling for all, a decentralized identity (DID) blockchain-fueled digital app was presented by South Korean Blockchain company ICONLOOP Inc. to ensure that COVID-19 contact tracing is secured. The mobile application, dubbed “Zzeung,” will be used to verify visitors’ identities when they arrive on the island. Through a verified credential on the application that will be emitted via a public blockchain network, users’ private information is guaranteed to be secured and safe from tampering.  

Through the COVID-19 safety mobile app, visitors will be required to set up a personal fingerprint authentication or a PIN code to secure their profile. The information will be stored in a private blockchain network. Each visitor’s logs of visited places and identity-related information will be stored separately on the chain. All information is kept private unless there is confirmation of a COVID-19 case. 

Blockchain Is the Future 

With the adoption of a digital blockchain-fueled app like Zzeung, many in the blockchain industry think that this may create new ventures for the industry, and blockchain may be adopted by even more companies after COVID-19 has passed.

With the issuance of Zzeung mobile app, Korea’s Financial Services Commission has also publicly stood by the “innovative financial service” and advocated for its security and efficiency. 

Blockchain Digitizes Driving Licenses 

Jeju Island will not be the first to leverage blockchain technology to improve and enhance its public services.  

Earlier this year, blockchain-powered driving licenses were made available to the South Korean population, replacing the traditional physical driver’s card. The blockchain-based driving license is reported to have already one million South Korean drivers subscribed to the innovative application. This translates to more than 3% of the entire driving population in South Korea. 

With blockchain being increasingly leveraged for its security, transparency, decentralized features, and more, Asian countries are increasingly adopting the distributed ledger technology in their day-to-day business life to offer more efficient transactions. 

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