Blockchain is big in Bahrain, companies must act now

The government of Bahrain has hailed blockchain technology as one of the most important advancements of recent years and urged local companies to take advantage of it.

News of Bahrain has reported comments made by Minister of Electricity and Water Affairs, Dr Abdulhussain Mirza, who is also part of the Supreme Committee for Information and Communication Technology, at the Cyber Security and Blockchain Conference 2018.

“Technologies such as blockchain take us a huge step forward in finding a secure way to facilitate transactions. Blockchain’s ability to protect user data is a true mark of progress, especially due to the fact that it can be applied in different companies from different industries including cyber security,” he said.

“This is the kind of initiative that we would like Bahraini companies to have so that innovation can arise amongst the great minds of this community. Cyber security is an essential part of our lives because most of our daily lives involve the use of technology in one way or another.”

The threat of international cyber attacks must not be taken lightly, he stressed. “These affected more than 60 countries including Bahrain last year and the Central Bank of Bahrain recently issued a warning to banks and financial institutions of orchestrated attacks planned at ATMs around the world.”

“The question of information security is very important when we conduct more of our lives digitally, we must ensure that the electricity supply that makes all this digital technology work safely and immune against cyber attacks,” he concluded.

World Blockchain Congress Bahrain 2018

In July, Bahrain played host to World Blockchain Congress. The organisers of the two day event said that they chose Bahrain as it is interested in digital currencies like Bitcoin amid a wider move towards a ‘country level’ adoption of blockchain technologies.

They also flagged up efforts to become a FinTech hub in the region. For instance, speaking at an Innovation Forum in the capital of Manama during the last quarter of 2017, Bahrain’s Economic Development Board (EDB) revealed plans to set up a regulatory sandbox in the country.