: A CITY POWERED BY BLOCKCHAIN

AISHA BIN BISHR Dubai is one of the seven that constitute the (UAE). It is the most populous city and emirate in the UAE, and it has a gross domestic product of US$ 382.6 billion (2017). Over the last 40 years, Dubai has been transformed into a global city and has earned a reputation as an international economic and investment center. Thousands of companies have established their regional headquarters in the emirate’s many free zones. Dubai is also known for its success as a regional business and tourism hub. The emirate has achieved this success by diversifying its gross domestic product through vast development in sectors such as tourism, real estate, retail, travel, and logistics. It also has been recognized for attracting skilled talent from around .

Underlying this economic growth is a technologies and pioneering of innova- strong and productive government sector tive smart pilots, Dubai is among the that has embraced technology and is com- world’s leading smart cities. Recognizing mitted to standards of excellence. The city the potential impact Blockchain technol- also has committed to digital transforma- ogy could have on city services, coupled tion, a technological journey that began in with a worldwide trend that saw $1.4 bil- 1999 with the announcement of its first lion in private-sector investment in ICT strategy. This was followed by the Blockchain technology in 2016 alone, launch of Dubai Internet City, Dubai E- Dubai launched a citywide Blockchain government, Dubai Smart Government, strategy in October 2016. The objective: to and, most recently, the Smart Dubai become the first Blockchain-powered city Office in 2015. by 2020.1. The Smart Dubai Office was formed Dubai’s rapid development in various with a vision to make Dubai a truly citi- economic sectors meant that traditional zen-centric smart city, ensuring the high- processes had to be updated continuously est levels of happiness for all residents and to ensure efficiency and speed. visitors. Today, with its adoption of new Government effectiveness became

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Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/itgg/article-pdf/12/3-4/4/705270/inov_a_00271.pdf by guest on 29 September 2021 increasingly imperative, especially in gov- when the technology is increasingly being ernment-to-consumer and government- recognized as the ultimate trust mecha- to-government services. In particular, the nism. Blockchain eliminates the need for growth of the business, construction, and trusted third parties in transactions of tourism sectors revealed that the govern- any asset, an attribute that could signifi- ment needed tighter controls over activi- cantly help simplify the Dubai govern- ties such as permits, transaction verifica- ment’s evolving processes. tion, and tracking. Simple processes were Additionally, as the UAE is the lead- getting ever more complicated as the ing supporter of the United Nations city’s new businesses and residents began Sustainable Development Goals, the delving into newer industry sectors. It adoption of Blockchain technology also was clear that Dubai needed an agile way applies to the smart governance, smart to streamline its expanding government economy, and smart people areas of processes. United for Smart Sustainable Cities, as Dubai saw the potential of the next sections describe.2. Blockchain to provide a solution. Blockchain is a technology that utilizes VISION open distributed databases for transac- tions that involve value, be it monetary or While governments around the world are any kind of digital asset, such as identity, cautiously exploring various Blockchain certificates, licenses, etc. Its coding applications, Dubai is the first city that method allows for secure recordkeeping has the vision to explore the full potential in distributed online ledgers, which of this innovative and rapidly evolving enable members to share and confirm technology on a citywide scale. This information with no central authority. ambition sees the Dubai government The Blockchain economy is witnessing leading innovation and building an rapid growth; more than 600 companies ecosystem that will enable Blockchain are active in Blockchain today and it is technology to thrive in both the public expected to have a market value of several and private sectors. billion U.S dollars in 2019. The Blockchain strategy is based on Dubai’s adoption of Blockchain tech- three pillars: nology on a citywide scale comes at a time

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Aisha Bin Bishr is the Director General of the Smart Dubai Office, the government entity entrusted with Dubai’s citywide smart transformation. Bin Bishr was previously the Assistant Director General of the Executive Office, where she led the Smart Dubai task force team. She holds a PhD in management, science, technology, and innovation, and a master’s of philosophy, policy, and research on engineering, science, and technology from the Manchester Business School. She is also a graduate of the Young Leaders program at the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Centre for Leadership Development.

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1. Government Efficiency: Implement tion. So far more than 20 government and Blockchain technology across all applica- private-sector use cases have been identi- ble government services. fied and are currently going through the 2. Industry Creation: Support the cre- pilot phase. ation of a Blockchain industry by provid- The Blockchain pilots are being run ing an enabling ecosystem that empowers across several sectors in the city, includ- startups and businesses. ing energy, transport and logistics, 3. Local and International Thought tourism, health, education and employ- Leadership: Lead the global thinking on ment, economic development, safety and Blockchain technology and become the justice, social services, municipal and hub for Blockchain intellectual capital land works, and smart districts. This and skill development. process has involved the key government The adoption of Blockchain technol- champions in each public sector, includ- ogy perfectly aligns with the vision of ing the Dubai Land Department, Dubai embracing technology innovation city- Electricity and Water Authority, the wide, which will enable Dubai to offer the Roads and Transport Authority, the most efficient, seamless, safe, and impact- Dubai Tourism and Commerce ful experiences for its residents and visi- Marketing Department, the Department tors. of Economic Development, Dubai Police, Dubai Health Authority, and many more IMPLEMENTATION stakeholders that are key to sectoral adop- tion. Dubai has developed a detailed roadmap When organizing the rollout of the that is organized around the Blockchain Blockchain pilots, Dubai recognized the strategy’s three pillars. This roadmap importance of putting in place a gover- defines the way forward for the city’s nance framework that would ensure that Blockchain ambitions. Dubai’s plan all stakeholders are aware of their roles includes actionable initiatives for each and receiving the support they need. The pillar in the strategy. Smart Dubai Office, for example, held workshops with each stakeholder in order Government Efficiency to identify the best potential pilots for In 2017 and 2018, the Smart Dubai Office their sector and provide stakeholders with was identifying and piloting use cases of the technical standards and unified proto- the most applicable government services cols they needed to implement their on Blockchain. The Payment Reconcilia- pilots. tion and Settlement System, which went During the pilot phase, most entities live in September 2018, was the first identified the need for official govern- Blockchain use case, and many more are ment-issued Blockchain implementation planned to roll out in 2019. This new sys- policies, therefore Blockchain policy will tem reconciles payments between govern- be developed for a number of areas, such ment entities and banks within seconds— as security, ownership, infrastructure a process that previously took 45 days! management, consumer rights, startup The most applicable services are support and enablement, financial tech- those that would benefit most from nology, etc. The policy implications of Blockchain technology, due to their need Blockchain implementation will be to eliminate third parties, transaction assessed continually. Smart Dubai is ledgers, smart controls, and/or automa- therefore also running policy workshops with public- and private-sector entities to

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identify challenges they will face before Thought Leadership Blockchain is implemented, and will This pillar reflects Dubai’s aim to lead finalize the policies with their feedback in global thinking on Blockchain technology mind. and become the hub for Blockchain - lectual capital and skill development. To Industry Creation achieve this aim, Smart Dubai is working on four key action areas: In addition to rolling out Blockchain in Skill Development: Dubai aims to the government, Dubai aims to create a become the regional and global hub for Blockchain industry that enables private Blockchain skill development by offering companies and startups to thrive and the most comprehensive and frequent innovate. To achieve this aim, it has creat- training programs aimed at Blockchain ed two key action areas to support the coders, policymakers, strategists, and development of an enabling ecosystem project managers. that will empower businesses: Intellectual Capital—Smart Cities Blockchain Accelerators: Smart Global Network: Smart Dubai aims to Dubai has participated in two accelera- create and share intellectual capital relat- tors, the Dubai Future Accelerators and ed to its Blockchain adoption by develop- the Startupbootcamp Smart City Dubai ing case studies for each of its city pilots. Accelerator. Blockchain solution To achieve that goal, in April 2018 Smart providers from around the world were Dubai launched the Smart Cities Global invited to work with local government Network, the largest international net- entities and to test Blockchain implemen- work of smart-city stakeholders. Smart tation. Dubai aims to bring together partners Smart Dubai Global Blockchain that share its passion for advanced tech- Challenge: Hosted annually in Dubai, the nology, Fourth Industrial Revolution Smart Dubai Global Blockchain breakthroughs, smart living, and spread- Challenge invites startups from across the ing happiness in the community through globe to pitch Blockchain ideas that could tech-enabled, human-centric services. be implemented in the city. In May 2018, Network members include represen- the second Global Blockchain Challenge tatives from government, the private sec- received more than 200 applications from tor, research centers, academic institutes, 85 cities that wanted to showcase their subject-matter experts, and the media. best and brightest Blockchain solutions. The network approach is agile and flexi- Smart Dubai shortlisted the top 17 enti- ble, as it has no fixed time commitments ties and flew them to Dubai to present at and governance structures. Instead, the Future Blockchain Summit in May members can join the network online and 2018, where three winners were awarded become visible to one another through cash prizes and introduced to relevant the first comprehensive global smart-city government and private-sector partners. directory. This visibility enables Smart By opening the door to Blockchain Dubai and other network members to professionals from around the world to reach out to one another to exchange come to Dubai and help pilot and imple- knowledge around the implementation of ment use cases for each sector, the city is smart-city and technological initiatives; stimulating both the Blockchain market about ecosystem enablement efforts that and its own economy. support startups and entrepreneurs; and about skills development, publications, events, awards, and more.

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Blockchain Conferences: Dubai has and overall framework it has adopted are been hosting Blockchain experts and easily transferable to other cities. speakers on a regular basis in order to Although each city’s particular context stimulate debate and discussion around will differ in terms of the services it needs, the most pressing and controversial issues Dubai’s approach is both scalable and surrounding the adoption of Blockchain highly transferable. technology on a citywide level. The 2018 Future Blockchain Summit was the 1. See https://news.bitcoin.com/1-4-billion- largest such conference ever held, with invested-Blockchain-pwc/. more than 8,000 attendees. 2. “The United for Smart Sustainable Cities Academic Sector Activation: Smart (U4SSC) initiative is a UN initiative Dubai is heavily engaging schools and supported by 16 UN agencies and universities in all Blockchain activities, programs to achieve Sustainable such as pilot development, training, Development Goal 11: ‘Make cities and speaker events, and building intellectual human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient capital. As part of Dubai’s 10X program, a and sustainable’ . . . The U4SSC serves as program launched to put Dubai ten years the global platform to advocate for public policy and to encourage the use of ICTs to ahead of all other cities across all industry facilitate and ease the transition to smart sectors, Smart Dubai will soon launch the sustainable cities . . . A smart sustainable Smart City Academy. The academy will be city is an innovative city that uses the world’s first open platform for decen- information and communication tralized education and skill development technologies (ICTs) and other means to that will run on Blockchain. improve quality of life, efficiency of urban operation and services, and CONCLUSION competitiveness, while ensuring that it meets the needs of present and future The Smart Dubai Office has developed a generations with respect to economic, performance management framework social, environmental as well as cultural that will track the progress of all the aspects.” See https://www.itu.int/en/ITU- action items detailed in this case study on T/ssc/201804/Pages/default.aspx; a regular basis. https://www.itu.int/en/ITU- T/ssc/united/Pages/default.aspx. Dubai’s adoption of Blockchain tech- nology on a citywide scale is testament to its commitment to drive innovation and provide an enabling ecosystem in which businesses and startups can thrive. Blockchain is a nascent technology, and only a bold city would make such a strong commitment to developing this technolo- gy, and to export the intellectual capital and skills that emerge so the world can learn from them. Dubai has been a pioneer in adopting Blockchain technology and it intends to be the global leader in this field. It has both a clear vision and a roadmap for fol- lowing through on its vision. Dubai strongly believes that the novel approach

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