Dubai to Become the World’s First Blockchain-Based City
During the last couple of years, Dubai has seen a considerable evolution, hence why it has been often referred to as the city of the future. From autonomous vehicles and hi-tech solutions meant to make life easier for its residents, the city’s government is considering all sorts of high-tech ideas that will propel it years above other cities in the world.
Now, recent reports indicate that Dubai is planning to become the city with the world’s first blockchain-based government. In a recent press statement, it was mentioned that the UAE wants all bill payments, visa applications and license renewals to be handled via blockchain technology, in order to help reduce costs, the number of documents, bureaucracy, while also increasing efficiency.
Smart Dubai, a company in charge of private and public technology innovation workshops, has mentioned that government-level blockchain adoption could lead to savings of over $1.5 billion on a yearly basis. Not only this, but increased productivity will also be achieved, granted that the government may adopt a paperless system, backed by blockchain technology.
Regardless, Dubai isn’t only planning to adopt blockchain technology at a governmental level. Rather, they want the technology employed in real estate purposes as well. The Dubai Land Department, known as the DLD, which is the main agency in charge of real estate trades and land purchases, launched a blockchain system in October, meant to record all contracts, while also connecting tenants and property owners, especially when dealing with utility bills.
According to the director general of the DLD, “Our aim is to unite all real estate and department services on a single platform (…) This initiative is still in a stage of infancy. In the near future, we will see many partners joining blockchain to improve their client services, including banking, mortgages, and utilities and maintenance operations.”
Seeing that Dubai is ranked fourth when it comes down to the biggest inflow of individuals with a high net-worth, a blockchain based system for real estate will do wonders, and make the process of acquiring and managing property a lot easier for owners throughout the city.
In the future, it is expected that similar technologies will be adopted throughout the United Arab Emirates, thus leading to an even higher growth of its economy, and overall quality of life for the country’s citizens.
Based on everything that has been outlined so far, numerous other countries are considering the idea of adopting blockchain technology for various purposes. It is expected that the year of 2018 will lead to a higher growth in this regards, and beta-testing of such technologies throughout the world.