By CGTN’s Nawied Jabarkhyl

Dubai is looking to become a global leader in blockchain technology. The Middle Eastern city hosted a competition on Tuesday to find the brightest new ideas but there are concerns about how quickly it is being embraced.  

Blockchain is a new type of database where data is distributed across all computers on a network, according to Abraham Cambridge, founder of the Sun Exchange. It has the potential to improve people’s lives, and Dubai is poised to be a leader in moving its application forward.

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“In the most basic terms, it’s like a global computer that no-one owns and everybody can participate in running,” Cambridge said. 

With the aim of becoming the first blockchain-powered city by 2020, Dubai launched a city-wide Blockchain Strategy in October last year. Companies like Smart Dubai Office (SDO) and 1776 Startup Incubator, have now held a competition to help the government seek game-changing applications for the new technology.

The prize money may have been a modest 45,000 US dollars, but only a few had the chance to test and develop their ideas. Supporters of blockchain were excited about the competition, saying it could revolutionize how money is moved. 

But doubts exist. Third parties like banks still wonder whether transactions would be safer and faster through the new technology. But Smart Dubai’s director-general Dr. Aisha Bin Bishr is convinced that using blockchain to move money would be a trend.

“So, it is a natural move that we invest more in technologies and moving our city into a smarter city – utilizing all these smart technologies,” he said. 

Experts say blockchain has become more valuable amid recent global uncertainty. Bitcoin, for an example, could create a peer-to-peer marketplace where transactions take place in a secure environment.

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“The origins of Bitcoin are really rooted in, very much, a fundamental mistrust of how transactions should take place between financial institutions. That, if you can and there’s authentication that happens between the two individuals, currencies can be established,” said Peter Cherukuri, president of 1776 Startup Incubator. 

Dubai’s target to be the first blockchain powered government within three years may seem ambitious, but it is driving investment into the industry. “What Dubai is doing now is experimenting,” Cambridge said.