When it comes to infrastructural development for citizens or technological innovations for smooth governance, Dubai has always managed to strike the perfect balance. One such live example is the advent of the use of blockchain Technology even before any other world government has realized its full potential. With the crowned prince of Dubai focusing heavily on Fintech, one of the leading oil producers is now all set to revolutionize the payments territory. The government has partnered with a blockchain firm to launch citywide payments based on blockchain technology. Let’s dive into the details of how Dubai has come this far and what is the future of blockchain looking like in the country:
Dubai puts government documents on blockchain:
The Crown Prince of Dubai recently announced strategic plan that would see all government documents secured on blockchain by 2020. The prince revealed that the goal of this initiative is to open the platform to other cities around the world. The main objective of this move is to speed up government transactions and be able to provide transparency to public. The transparency will also set in for governments of other countries who are coordinating in this process. All in all the overall result would be the increase in the efficiency of government operations.
The Blockchain Payments system:
The Smart Dubai Office, a government-backed initiative has partnered with a FinTech specialist firm to implement a citywide payments platform built on blockchain technology. The firm Avanza Solutions, signed a MoU in the presence of Hamdan bin Mohammed, the hereditary Prince to the crown of Dubai. The citywide project planned by the Smart Dubai Office will see a rollout of the blockchain payments platform to all existing 38 partner government entities, financial institutions and other departments in the city of Dubai. Avanza’s proprietary blockchain ‘cipher’ has been chosen for carrying out the initiative.
“Smart Dubai Office plans to roll out Cipher across all its existing 38 partner government entities, partner financial institutions and Departments to set up the first blockchain based building block within its financial plumbing.”
Influence of Bitcoin and Blockchain on the Middle East:
Very recently the Bitcoin p2p transaction volumes in Saudi Arabia reached an all-time high, with an increase of over 280%. Dubai’s fintech initiatives have been promising with the crowned prince actively looking into the fintech developments of the state, the ledger based technology has clearly gained traction. With government documents already made available through blockchain, it’s only a matter of time before blockchain finds its place in governance.
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