Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum today launched the Emirates Blockchain Strategy 2021, Gulf News reported.

As part of this initiative, 50 percent of government transactions will adopt blockchain technology over the next three years. This is expected to save Dh11 billion in transactions and documents processed routinely, and 398 million printed documents and 77 million work hours annually.

“We want to capitalise on this advanced technology to transform 50 per cent of government transactions into the blockchain platform by 2021 in order to cement the UAE’s position to be among the most advanced countries that are well prepared to deal with future changes,” Sheikh Mohammad said. “The blockchain technology will help save time, effort and resources and enable people to process their transactions at the time and place that suit their lifestyles and work.”

Referring to a report from WAM, Gulf News stated that the UAE also has plans to bring blockchain technology to digital transactions, which will involve giving each customer a unique identification number.

The strategy will also focus on providing proper training through events, workshops, reports, and university courses relating to blockchain technology.