GEC NEWS WIREH.E. Dr. Aisha Bint Butti Bin Bishr, Director General of Smart Dubai, launched the second annual Future Blockchain Summit yesterday by praising the city’s continued commitment to new technologies, before revealing plans for the 2019 launch of new guidelines in relation to blockchain advancement.
Her Excellency inaugurated the agenda-setting and globally empowering blockchain meet on Tuesday with an address welcoming a projected 10,000 visitors to the two-day event, hosted by Smart Dubai and Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC).
Her Excellency said: “Dubai has always been a trendsetter when it comes to embracing advanced technologies – and blockchain is no exception.
“Empowered and inspired by the forward-thinking vision of our leaders, Smart Dubai has been progressing with the implementation of the ambitious Dubai Blockchain Strategy, launched by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council in 2016.
“Today, we are currently implementing several city-wide government and private sector blockchain use-cases, and later this year will be launching the official policies for blockchain development and implementation in Dubai.”
Keynote-led discussions across Future Blockchain Summit’s Prism Stage yesterday also comprised speakers from international entities and industry-leading companies including the US Department of State, the United Nations, the Dutch Government, du, Coca Cola and SAP.
Phil Chen is consumer technology firm HTC’s Decentralised Chief Officer, and spoke about blockchain being “bigger than the smartphone”.
He said: “The internet today is very centralised – it keeps track of everyone, with more predictive power and surveillance capabilities than ever before rested in the hands of handful of companies. What we need today is a ‘decentralised web’ and that is possible through blockchain, which allows people to own their digital identities. In today’s digital-age, anybody can have access to your email and use it to transfer, for instance, money. In order for such things to not happen, you will need to own your own digital identities.”
Speakers on Wednesday’s final day of the Summit include Nolan Bushnell, Founder – Atari & X2 Games; Susan Oh, Co-Chair of AI & Blockchain for Impact – United Nations; Dale Chrystie, Blockchain Strategist – FedEx and Kristo Vaher, CTO – Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications for Estonia.
