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ZIG/ZAG: UNB - European Commission [EC] "Blockchains for Social Good [BSG]"
	 Challenge - DRAFT MINUTES W 30 JAN 2019 FOR MTG 7 T 29 JAN 2019

Date:		Tue 29 Jan 2019		Time:17:30 - 18:30

Venue:		Balgowlah RSL		Contact: Stephen GOULD
		30 Ethel Street		SAN Projects Co-ordinator
		BALGOWLAH 2092		M:{61}(4)1600-9468

			INVITEES & ATTENDEES

Peter AXTENS	[PMA] Chr	Y	Janece WILLS	[JPW]		E
Gloria OMODEI	[GMO]		Y	Carline DUFFY	[CJD]		Y
Jan NEILSEN	[JNN]		Y	Tim CHENKO	[TMC]		E
Kathy REID 	[KCR]		E	Stephen GOULD	[SGG] Sec	Y
Any On-line Contacts

			     AGENDA

	A  17:30-18:00 - Review Key Project issues
	B  18:00-18:15 - Review Overseas Cryptocurrency Research 
	C  18:10-18:25 - Update on "Blockchain" initiatives
	D  18:25-18:30 - Any other business
	W  Action Items
	Z  Next Meeting	Tue 12 Feb 2019		17:30 - 18:30

A  17:30-18:00 - REVIEW KEY PROJECT ISSUES FOR H2020 SUBMISSIONS

PMA said one of the key issues that should be important for the EC-BSG 
submissions is the amount of electricity that appears to be consumed by current 
"Cryptocurrency" mining and "Blockchain" synchronisation processes

According to recent articles reviewed including a key one reviewed today namely
"27 Jan 2019 JP Morgan claims Bitcoin mining isn't worth value of cryptocurrency" it
appears that current "Cryptocurrency" values are based on the cost of "mining" over 
2,000 different Cryptocurrencies all of which require considerable electricity

This cost appears to be the cost of Electricity required to generate a "blockchain" 
block for a Cryptocurrency ref article 14 Dec 2014 How much CPU time is needed to 
mine 1 bitcoin?

The concern is that the Federal Government has signed a 5-year Whole of 
Government [WoG] Au $1 Billion contract with IBM for "Blockchain", "Artificial 
Intelligence [AI]"  and "Quantum Computing" which will impact on all Federal, State 
and Local Government entities

Hence this appears to be another Computer Industry ruse like the Y2K issue in 1998-
2000 and the Global Financial Crises 2007-2008 that has to be underwritten by the 
Public Purse 

According to an article on 01 Jan 2019 by Stephen BARTHOLOMEUSZ "Leveraged 
to the hilt: World has a Au$ 264 Trillion Problem" Australia's net Government debt, 
which was Au$ 0 in 2007 prior to the GFC, is now Au$ 350 Billion !  

Indeed according to an 2016 article in the Australian by Judith SLOAN "Digital 
Disasters haemorrhage Bucketsful of Money" she lists the many IT disasters in 
Health and Education which have become a permanent drain of the Public Purse

It also appears similar to the case of the 2004 Australian-USA  Free Trade 
agreement [Aus-USA FTA] and the 2008 National eHealth Transition Authority 
[NeHTA] multiple eHealth Standards where the Minister responsible for signing the 
documents retires from Public Service soon after the Contracts are signed and 
leaves the problems to somebody else to cope with the cost overruns and major 
delays which often become legal issues

However of more concern is the legislation that is in place now for determining 
Government Policies for the next 15 years like the move to Electric Cars and 
Electricity replacing Oil as the transport consumable

It appears that the sponsors of the European Commission "Blockchains for Social 
Good" are aware that Currency Speculators destroyed the economies of many of the 
European Countries in the past and hence the rapid acceptance of the "Euro" by the 
Financial Ministers of the European Community apart from Great Britain which 
retained the Pound Sterling

Hence the importance of this EC-BSG Blockchain Challenge to minimise the 
destruction of Cryptocurrency speculation in the near future

As most Cryptocurrencies have no tangible backing like gold or silver it is also 
alarming to watch the Venezuelan Cryptocurrency "The Petro" which is backed by 
the country's vast oil, gas and diamonds reserves being ignored as a Cryprocurrency 
by international suppliers and speculators due to the embargo by the USA which is 
trying to change the Government

B  18:00-18:15 - REVIEW OVERSEAS CRYPTOCURRENCY RESEARCH

b 2019/01/27 JP Morgan claims Bitcoin mining isn't worth value of cryptocurrency
a 2019/01/20 Japanese regulator clarifies stance on Bitcoin, EFTs & Derivatives

b 2019/01/27 JP Morgan claims Bitcoin mining isn't worth value of cryptocurrency 

The full article can be reviewed here

"Currently, bitcoin is trading at around the $3,650 level after falling off the 
$3,700 resistance level which it touched earlier.

Chinese miners were the exception though as they incurred lower mining 
costs. 

On average Chinese miners spent approximately $2,400 to mine one bitcoin:

The drop in Bitcoin prices from around $6,500 throughout much of October to 
below $4,000 now has increasingly pushed margins further and further 
negative for just about every region except low-cost Chinese miners.

Bitcoin miners in the world's second-largest economy achieved this by directly 
buying electricity from power generators with excess production. 

Some of these power generators include aluminum smelters"

The meeting agreed that it was strange that Chinese Aluminum smelters had excess 
electricity production while apparently Australian Aluminium smelters consume 14% 
of Australia's electricity supply and should be closed down !

a 2019/01/20 Japanese regulator clarifies stance on Bitcoin, EFTs & Derivatives

The full article can be reviewed here

Following recent reports claiming that Japans Financial Services Agency (FSA) may 
be considering approving one or more bitcoin ETFs, news.Bitcoin.com asked the 
country's top financial regulator to confirm its plan regarding this type of investment 
instrument.

There is no such fact that we are considering approving ETFs which track crypto-
assets at present … we are not currently considering approving them.

The FSA also confirmed its position on cryptocurrency derivatives. Regarding the 
listing of bitcoin futures on the financial instruments market, the regulator said, 
We are not considering that at present"

The Meeting agreed that a number of articles are published under headings 
which were totally mis-leading

This is an example whereby the heading appears to confirm that the 
Japanese Regulator is supporting "Cyptocurrencies" whereby the opposite 
was the outcome

C  18:10-18:25 - UPDATE ON "BLOCKCHAIN" INITIATIVES

The Meeting reviewed these "Blockchain" articles

c 2019/01/25 Minister KEENAN announces he is quitting Politics
b 2018/11/20 Paraguay Lures Blockchains Golden Goose with Cheap Hydro
a 2018/07/05 Minister KEENAN signs 5-yr WoG Blockchain Au$ 1Billion IBM contract

c 2019/01/25 Minister KEENAN announces he is quitting Politics

The full article can be reviewed here

"Federal Human Services Minister Michael Keenan will not contest the next election, 
making him the second minister to quit ahead of the federal poll.

Key points:

1 Mr Keenan is leaving politics after 15 years as member for the WA seat of Stirling

2 He has cited family reasons, saying he cannot commit to another term

3 He is the second high-profile departure -fellow Minister Kelly O'Dwyer is also quitting

It is understood Mr Keenan wants to spend more time with his family.

He was elected as the member for the WA electorate of Stirling in 2004.

Mr Keenan was one of a slew of ministers who quit former prime minister Malcolm 
Turnbull's cabinet ahead of the leadership spill in August 2018".

b 2018/11/20 Paraguay Lures Blockchains Golden Goose with Cheap Hydro

The full article can be reviewed here

Paraguay, home to Jesuit ruins, rainforests and the world's largest dam, will also 
soon be home to what is being touted as the world's largest cryptocurrency mining 
center and exchange, which will be powered by the massive, state-owned 
Itaipu hydroelectric project under a 15-year contract

Please review the web link for further details on the South Korean blockchain 
agreement with Paraguay as the content of the web-page cannot be copied

Completed in 1984, the Itaipu Dam's hydroelectric power plant produced the most 
energy of any in the world as of 2016, setting a new world record of 103,098,366 
megawatt hours (MWh), and surpassed the Three Gorges Dam plant in energy 
production in 2015 and 2016. 

Of the twenty generator units currently installed, ten generate at 50 Hz for Paraguay 
and ten generate at 60 Hz for Brazil. 

Since the output capacity of the Paraguayan generators far exceeds the load in 
Paraguay, most of their production is exported directly to the Brazilian side

a 2018/07/05 Minister KEENAN signs 5-yr WoG Blockchain Au$ 1Billion IBM contract

The full article can be reviewed here

Melbourne - 05 Jul 2018: The Australian Federal Government today announced that it has 
awarded IBM (NYSE: IBM) a new AU$1B, five-year Whole of Government agreement to be a 
major technology partner with the Australian government

Announced by The Hon. Michael Keenan MP, Minister for Human Services and Minister 
Assisting the Prime Minister for Digital Transformation today, the agreement is a cross-brand 
solutions partnership involving IBM hardware, software and cloud-based solutions

It will deliver significant savings over the next five years and supports Australia's goal to
become one of the top-three digital governments in the world by 2025, while delivering 
services that are simple, convenient and easy to use for Australian citizens and businesses.

David La Rose, Managing Director IBM Australia & New Zealand, said the agreement is a 
very tangible demonstration of IBM's partnership with the Australian Government and its 
agencies.

 "The Whole of Government agreement reflects the growing importance of technology to the 
government's transformation agenda. "This agreement is a testament to our forty-year 
partnership with the Australian Government. 

It shows trust and belief in our ability to transform and provide world-leading capabilities, 
leveraging our investments locally in AI, blockchain, quantum and cloud. 

We look forward to helping the Australian Government to re-define the digital experience 
for the benefit of all Australians"

The meeting agreed that given the previous history of Australian IT projects that this 
contract had to be watched closely because of its impact on State and Local 
Government policies

The meeting agreed to monitor what is happening with "Hyperledger" particularly as 
IBM, Microsoft and SAP were foundation members of the 2003 BizDex/GovDex 
Consortium which developed the Australian Wheat Board [AWB] Grain export system 
with a Au$ 200,000 Australian Government Grant via Standards Australia

D   18:25-18:30 - ANY OTHER BUSINESS

There was no other business

ACTION ITEMS		ACTION				WHO	FOR	WHEN		

1	Plan for ECIM Partners	 			SGG	All	by F 2019/02/08

2	Overview Pedal-Power Project			NHR	All	by F 2019/02/08

3	Report "Blockchain" & "Hyperledger" articles	SGG	All	On-going

NEXT MEETING

Date:	Tue 12 Feb 2019		Time:	17:30 - 18:30

Venue:	Balgowlah RSL	 	E: 
	30 Ethel St		F:{61}(2)
	SEAFORTH	2092	P:{61}(2)9949-5477

Stephen GOULD
Projects Co-ordinator
SUSTAINABILITY ACTION NETWORK
 
B: PO Box 517 Neutral Bay Junction NSW 2089
E: ehn.1a3posgg@gmail.com
M: {61}(4)1600-9468 


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