Smart Dubai, the government initiative to implement innovative technology, is closed to launching 20 blockchain applications in various civic agencies, a senior official said on Sunday.

During her keynote speech at the Unlock Blockchain Forum, Aisha Bint Buti bin Bisher, the director general of Smart Dubai, said that efforts are underway to make Dubai the blockchain capital of the world.

“[W]hile others were still debating the prospects of this new technology, we got to work. We are making Dubai the blockchain capital of the world, we have 20 public sector Blockchain use cases and it’s only the beginning”, Bisher said.

“Dubai took the forward-thinking approach and broke ground on the bold Dubai Blockchain Strategy, and by supporting events such as the UNLOCK Blockchain Forum, we are building a platform to share our learnings and prepare Dubai, and the world, for the future of Blockchain,” she added.

Importantly, a number of government departments are involved in the pilot project including the Dubai Police, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, and the Knowledge and Human Development Authority, among others, according to Khaleej Times.

“Our deadline is 2020, but my aim for blockchain implementation is 2018. We have partnered with IBM and Consensys as both strategic advisor and consultant for this strategy. We are working with them on two parallels - one is to develop use cases and the other is to develop a plan for the whole city," Bisher said.

"We are building the digital backbone of the city. The blockchain is one of the fundamental layers of that backbone. We are also looking into a framework on how to organise the government and private sector individuals around the blockchain," she added.