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Dubai / WAM
The UAE’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution hosted local and international experts from government and private entities, and blockchain technology providers, to identify the main governance challenges in adopting blockchain technology in government and private sectors.
The meeting was held as part of the centre’s Blockchain Governance Accelerator programme, organised in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and the Dubai Future Foundation.
Participants discussed maintaining data trust amongst stakeholders, aligning incentives between organisations, connecting with similar blockchain providers and protecting commercially valuable information.
The experts also stressed the importance of cooperation between the sectors to align efforts being made in blockchain technology, to facilitate the participation of individuals, companies and government agencies in the development of an integrated system, and to identify the roles and responsibilities of partners and stakeholders.
Mariam Al Muhairi from the UAE’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution said, “The organisation of the Blockchain Governance Accelerators programme aims to discuss current and future challenges presented by this technology, as well as to align efforts and ideas presented by various stakeholders to adopt innovative technologies and develop the necessary roadmaps for implementation.”
Over six days, the programme’s participants worked in four groups to develop potential pilot projects for blockchain in various sectors. With support from the Dubai Future Accelerators, DFA, the exercise saw the productive collaboration of government and private sectors in a short period to develop successful frameworks for blockchain implementation.
The UAE’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution will provide support to participants to move their pilot projects from concept to reality by providing governance support and working alongside the DFA to facilitate meetings and deployment planning.
The participants used a World Economic Forum toolkit to design a deployment journey for the pilot projects that could overcome the challenges in blockchain deployment in key sectors such as supply chain.
The pilot projects focused mainly on ways to deploy blockchain technology to enhance the ability to validate goods, improve the efficiency of prosecution on the distribution of counterfeit products in the UAE, improve the performance of the customs authorities to enhance the UAE’s position as a preferred shipping destination, and develop effective infrastructure for authentication mechanisms for goods and services. Besides, the projects focused on supporting the retail and trade sectors through advanced solutions that enhance the efficiency of business transactions.