Dubai estimates that it will save approximately £1 billion a year using Blockchain for document processing. The emirate plans to use the technology to process everything from visas to real estate contracts has already started with the Land Department announcing that more than 5 million documents have been archived digitally.
However, the predicted saving is not solely financial. Smartdubai.ae, the government’s official portal for the initiative, states that 114 MTons CO2 emissions could be saved thanks to the reduction in the amount of document deliveries that need to be made (via car/motorcycle). In a region that records some of the highest Co2 emissions globally per capita, any amount of reduction is significant.
Dubai is also predicting Blockchain technology will help it grow. For decades, Dubai has been the leader when it comes to attracting global business to the region. Public announcements and initiatives like The Dubai Future Accelerators send a clear message to the world’s technological freethinkers that the UAE is open to ideas and is ready to support those who have them. Dubai anticipates that real estate, fintech, healthcare, banking, energy, and more, will advance due to Blockchain and associated technologies.
As the UAE transforms its formerly oil dependant economy into a knowledge one, it’s seeking to attract the world’s best minds to aid in the process. Just as Dubai became the regional headquarter for the likes of Microsoft, Oracle, Facebook, and more, so it hopes to attract the next generation of tech leaders. Dubai offers UK tech firms an unrivaled regional base from in which to expand and from which to do business. With investment in UK fintech firms in the billions of pounds there is certainly room for growing firms to manoeuvre.
The UAE isn’t new to IT innovation. The capital hosted the inaugural Fintech Abu Dhabi in October 2017, Abu Dhabi also hosted Black Hat in 2012, 2011, and 2010. Dubai’s tech trade show GITEX first opened doors in 1981 and is still the region’s largest. Add to this the myriad of summits and exhibitions that occur each year and it becomes clear the country is not simply capitalising on a trend.
For more information on Dubai’s Blockchain strategy, click here. Comments from the UAE’s Central Bank about fintech and security can be found to-set-up-a-dedicated-department-to-deal-with-cyber-attacks-1.2128550″>here. And Dubai’s Future Accelerators program can be found here. If you’d like more information on setting up or doing business in the UAE please contact us.