The Dubai Blockchain Strategy, wanted by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and launched in partnership with the Smart Dubai Office and the Dubai Future Foundation with the aim to improve safety, efficiency, innovation and, above all, “make Dubai the happiest city on earth” - as the same Sheikh declared – is proving successful.
And the merit is, once again, of Blockchain forefront technology that is shaping the future of Dubai providing a valuable, seamless, safe and impactful city experience, offering economic opportunity for entrepreneurs in all sectors, guaranteeing simple and secure transactions and cementing Dubai’s reputation as a global technology leader in the smart economy.
The United Arab Emirates luxurious and ultra modern heart has already a long and strong tradition in the digital innovation, having established an open platform to share the technology with cities across the globe "Adopting Blockchain technology, Dubai stands to unlock 5.5 billion dirhams in savings annually in document processing alone" Smart Dubai stated.
The roadmap for the introduction of the technology has developed over three main cornerstones:
- Government Efficiency, by enabling a paperless digital layer for all city transactions in the public and private sector: visa applications, bill payments and license renewals, which account for over 100 million documents each year, will gradually be transacted digitally, which is estimated will contribute savings of up to 114 MTons CO2 emissions from trip reductions, and redistribute up to 25.1 million hours of economic productivity in saved document processing time.
- Industry creation, by enabling citizens and partners to create thousands of business opportunities in real estate, fin-tech, and banking, healthcare, transportation, urban planning, smart energy, digital commerce and tourism that would benefit of the advantages of the technology
- International Leadership, by enabling global counterparts to accede to its Blockchain platform and benefit of faster entry with pre-approved passport and security clearance and visas, easier mobility within in the city due to approved drivers licenses and car rental, guaranteed wireless connectivity, enhanced tourism and pre-authenticated temporary digital wallets & payments.
Under this strategy, the Dubai Future Agenda will reach soon its primary objective: “To be 10 years ahead of other world cities,” running 100 percent of applicable government transactions on blockchain by 2020. And recently, it has done a further step ahead in this direction: the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) Courts had indeed announced its plan “to create the world’s first Court of the Blockchain”, which will oversee all civil and commercial disputes involving financial transactions, both domestically and internationally, on a Blockchain-based system.
This “disruptive court” will reshape the judicial process bringing greater efficiencies across the entire legal ecosystem, using smart contracts to explore verification of court judgments, to share documents in real-time for efficient cross-border law enforcement and to remove document duplications.
“This task force is in line with our guiding principle to deliver courts as a service, powered by technology and extended through cooperation agreements and alliances. By harnessing blockchain technology, Dubai will be firmly positioned at the forefront of legaltech and judicial innovation, setting the standards for countries and judiciaries to follow” declared DIFC Courts chief executive and registrar Amna Al Owais “An invention of this calibre – she added - and potential requires an equally disruptive set of rules and an empowered institution to uphold them. This is where our partnership with DIFC Courts comes in, allowing us to work together and create the world’s first disruptive court, helping to truly unlock the power of blockchain technology.”
The technology will initially focus on existing dispute resolution services, and then explore how to aid verification of court judgments for cross-border enforcement and how to handle regulation and contractual terms encoded within the smart contract. Currently, indeed, Blockchain-based smart contract transactions are irrevocable and there are no technical means to unwind a transaction: the team working on the development of the technology will model smart contracts across the blockchain that incorporate logic and allow for various forms of exceptions and conditions for seamless and more efficient dispute resolution. Doing so, by 2021, the government should be able to get 50 percent of operation conducted using blockchain technology. “Led by the ambitious vision of our leadership, - stated Her Excellency Dr Aisha Bint Butti Bin Bishr, Director General of the Smart Dubai Office (SDO) - Smart Dubai has set out to transform the emirate into a fully-fledged smart city where all services are digitized. The emirate has become a global trailblazer in embracing advanced technologies and steering them towards the safety, comfort, and happiness of our city’s residents and visitors”.
According to Sheikh Mohammed that blockchain adoption would “enhance happiness levels for [UAE] citizens,” save millions of work hours, and reduce government documents by 389 million.