A seminar on the use of Blockchain has confirmed that Dubai is moving rapidly to achieve its goal of becoming the first government in the world to adopt the technology by 2020.

During the seminar, organised by the Chief Information Officers Majlis, Dan Frankel, Blockchain Technology Consultant at ConsenSys, said that private sector institutions, which will benefit from potential coordination with the government, are getting ready to adopt the technology.

Frankel highlighted the fact that the first companies to apply this technology will definitely have a competitive edge s in the market.

Ahmed Al Mulla, Chairman of the Chief Information Officers Majlis, said that Dubai is always ahead in adopting the most advanced technologies, aiming to be the first government to adopt Blockchain Technology by 2020. He added that related government initiatives will provide significant commercial opportunities for the private sector in the UAE.

Al Mulla added that there is currently a global shortage in programmers and developers in this field. He also noted the need to provide qualified human resources, to apply Blockchain Technology in both the public and private sectors in the future.

Forecasts suggest that the global Blockchain market will grow from US$210 million in 2016 to over US$2.3 billion in 2021.

H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council , had launched the Dubai strategy on Blockchain Technology, with an emphasis on discovering and assessing the latest innovations for creating smoother, safer and more efficient user experiences.

The adopting of Blockchain Technology will save over AED5.5 billion per year, because of its simplified document processing.

ConsenSys Systems was appointed as the official advisor to the Dubai Blockchain project, which will be working with government officials and IBM, the main strategic partner of the project.