Australia Post announces exploration of blockchain technology to solve identity issues

Following the Australian Stock Exchange’s move to blockchain technology development and application, another large Australian company has begun to enter the blockchain field. Australia’s major express delivery company, Australia Post, announced that they are exploring the use of blockchain technology.

The Australian Financial Review reported on March 16 that government-run Australia Post, which generated revenue of 6.4 billion Australian dollars (4.75 billion U.S. dollars) in 2013-2014, is exploring how to apply blockchain technology to its identity services.

Australia Post CEO Ahmed Fahour told the Australian Financial Review (AFR) business conference this week:

“Digital identity will be the future trend. Many people think of blockchain from the perspective of financial services, but in fact, the application scope of blockchain is much wider than that.”

Mr Favor said that given Australia Post's role in the national passport market, offering digital identity was a natural fit for the company.

However, Australia Post is not the only company in the country to publicly announce its exploration of blockchain technology. In late 2015, the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) announced that they were studying whether blockchain technology could replace traditional market infrastructure.

ASX has acquired a 5% stake in blockchain startup Digital Asset for $19.5 million, according to recent financial statements.

ASX CEO Elmer Funke Kupper believes blockchain technology could help them save hundreds of millions of dollars in transaction processing costs.

Original article: http://www.coindesk.com/australian-delivery-service-exploring-blockchain-identity-services/
By Stan Higgins
Compiled by: Kyle
Source (translation): Babbitt Information (http://www.8btc.com/australian-post-exploring-blockchain)