The Dubai Department of Finance (DoF) has partnered with the Smart Dubai Office (SDO) to launch a blockchain-powered Payment Reconciliation and Settlement platform.

The pair will design the system to provide for a more accurate, efficient and transparent governance process, as well as to enable real-time inter-governmental offices, including police, transport and health.

Local news outlet Zawya says transactions within the Dubai government offices are currently highly time-consuming (it sometimes requires up to 45 days to complete a transaction). The new platform is already in use by the local Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA). Both authorities have tested more than five million transactions.

Most promising technology

SDO Director General Aisha Bin Bishr says “blockchain is one of the most promising of emerging technologies”.

In 2017, the SDO group was awarded top honours at the Smart Cities Expo and World Congress in Barcelona and won the City Project Award from among 308 other teams for its Dubai blockchain strategy.

The Smart City project was launched by Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of the Dubai Emirate Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid in 2013. The goal of the project, which is backed by the government, private sector, and institutional partners, is to provide an ecosystem for cooperation between government entities and residents and visitors.

Smart Dubai is not the only government-backed project that plans to use blockchain and other new technologies. In April Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid launched the UAE Blockchain Strategy 2021 initiative aimed at positioning the country as a global leader in technology adoption.