Russian government prioritizes blockchain development

Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov, addressing the higher chamber of the Russian parliament on Wednesday, named blockchain as one of the technologies that the government will prioritize in the near future.

Belousov said that the government will support technologies that facilitate the interactions between the state and the largest corporations. In addition to blockchain, he named a number of other key technologies: artificial intelligence, quantum computing, new materials, quantum sensing, microelectronics, Internet of Things, 5G, quantum communications and energy.

Belousov also said that in order to foster the development of these technologies, the government would have to create a new venture ecosystem:

"The task before us is to practically recreate a system of venture financing that attracts private capital and public-private partnership. Relevant proposals from industry have already come in."

In the recent parliamentary elections, almost 30,000 Russians were able to cast their votes via an online platform that was built on Waves' permissioned blockchain.