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The South African National Blockchain Alliance aims to connect players in the blockchain ecosystem.
SAfrican blockchain projects will be allocated to receive funding as a result of efforts to support the South African National Blockchain Alliance (SANBA) from the Office of Digital Advantage (ODA) of the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
This is because there has been immense growth in the interest of blockchain applications and distributed register technologies.
Blockchain technology has been recognized for its ability to increase productivity and offer transparency, security and validity.
Minister of Science and Technology Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane recently told Parliament that DST supports blockchain through research and development of human capital.
He said that the total funding for blockchain made available by the department this year is R550 000, with the Council for scientific and industrial research spending over R4 million of its parliamentary grant on applications and understanding of blockchain and technologies of distributed accounting.
He noted that the department recently conducted a blockchain study involving social subsidies to assess how blockchain works in that space. The study also assessed other blockchain functions on electronic voting, smart contracts and intellectual property rights.
Before committing to support SANBA, the ODA, which is the ICT implementation and support program for the research, development and innovation of DST, initially hosted a workshop entitled "Blockchain beyond crypto-currencies: creating opportunities for socio-economic development "and multi-consultative Workshops for stakeholders last month.
The SANBA concept was designed in collaboration with the South African blockchain community, consisting of government grants, universities, businesses, start-ups and civil society.
It aims to connect players in the blockchain ecosystem in SA, in order to create a pre-competitive space for research, development and innovation in order to catalyze the adoption of blockchains.
The responsibility of the DST within SANBA will be to strongly orient academic research and accelerated skills development. According to the agreement, the APS will be the secretariat for SANBA.
The DST has a partnership agreement with the Global Innovation Fund (GIF) and members of the GIF will visit SA from 5 to 14 December.
As one of the first SANBA initiatives, the blockchain community SA is invited to present project ideas for potential funding from GIF. The fund invests in social innovations that aim to improve the lives and opportunities of millions of people in developing countries.
Interested parties can submit a list of initiatives for funding consideration to [email protected] and [email protected].
Marius Reitz, country manager of Luno in SA, comments that blockchain is an exciting technology that maintains long-term potential.
"Bitcoin is the first (and largest) digital currency that has been built on blockchain technology, but there is a lot of hype and misunderstanding about what the blockchain is and what it will do one day," says Reitz.
"Many people are exaggerating in the evaluation of the blockchain and perhaps underestimate the Bitcoin." There are many blockchain-proof projects underway in many companies and banks, most of them not yet successful. example of blockchain technology put into use, all over the world. "
He noted that there are some interesting blockchain projects, particularly regarding payments, property, forecast markets, decentralized markets and identities, but "I think we are still far from seeing large-scale adoption".
Ben Roberts, head of technology and innovation at the Liquid Telecom Group, notes that the increase in blockchain innovation will depend on the skills and talent of SA software developers.
"At Liquid Telecom, we are excited about the potential of blockchain technology across the region and, together with other emerging technologies, we recognize it as an important new digital opportunity for companies."
