The SEED Group and the Private Office of Sheikh Saeed bin Ahmed today announced that they’ve teamed up with the Fantom Foundation, a DAG blockchain platform. This partnership aims to help Dubai come up with new economic opportunities. Also, it seeks to provide a better user experience for UAE residents by leveraging the blockchain technology.
This collaboration is part of the wider project of making Dubai a smart city powered by blockchain. The UAE is one of the regions across the globe that has embraced blockchain and crypto. Through the Smart Dubai initiative, which was founded by the Ruler, Vice President and Prime Minister of Dubai, the city aims to become “fully powered by blockchain by 2021.” The UAE has set aside $6 billion for developing the requisite technology and infrastructure to achieve this milestone.
According to Hisham Al Gurg, the CEO of SEED Group and the Private Office of Sheikh Saeed bin Ahmed Al Maktoum,
“This day marks the beginning of a new partnership that lays the groundwork for integrating Fantom Foundation’s technology and expertise into the vision of Dubai to become a blockchain city. Given their extensive experience in technology R&D and working with partners, we look forward to seeing how this will significantly benefit the Smart Dubai initiative strategy.”
This news comes after Fantom had a successful trip to Dubai in April this year. Gurg formalized this agreement with Fantom’s Ashton Hettiarachi and David Freuden in their Dubai head office.
Ashton Hettiarachi noted,
“We are super excited to partner up with The Private Office of Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum to bring innovation and build solutions for Dubai to create new economic opportunities and deliver better user experience for UAE citizens.”
Fantom’s Blockchain and How it Can Help the UAE Make Dubai a Smart City
Fantom is a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) blockchain platform. It comprises of three layers. These are the distributed consensus layer, the middleware layer, and the application layer. These layers ensure the process of verifying transactions is done in a non-synchronized manner. In so doing, it removes the limitations and delayed approvals experienced when using the blockchain technology. Fantom has also used a modular approach in its technology. Consequently, the platform ensures faster transaction speeds and increased scalability.
The platform supports smart contracts. This would allow developers to build decentralized applications (dApps) on it. Through these smart contracts, the UAE can improve several sectors seamlessly. In so doing, the jurisdiction would be set to provide its citizens with better services.
Due to Fantom’s immutability and scalability, the platform has what it takes to be the backbone of establishing a smart city.
Sectors That Fantom Can Disrupt
- Traffic management. By incorporating Fantom’s blockchain technology, the UAE will be able to reduce traffic congestion. Also, Fantom would introduce smart parking and integrate an IoT-powered maintenance system. On top of this, the DAG platform would be fundamental in the manufacturing of autonomous vehicles. Such vehicles would communicate with each other through Fantom’s secure blockchain network, resulting in safer roads for the country’s citizens. This will also ensure that roads users get to their destinations quickly.
- Public utilities. Through Fantom, the UAE will be able to tap into renewable energy sources more efficiently. It will also prevent energy wastage by introducing blockchain-powered data-driven management systems. On top of this, the country will be able to monitor and manage energy infrastructure appropriately. Additionally, Fantom will play a significant role in establishing proper waste management systems, helping keep Dubai clean.
- Government services. By integrating Fantom’s blockchain into its government agencies, the UAE will be in a position to offer its citizens more efficient channels to pay for its services. This will allow the citizens to pay for taxes and other fees through websites or mobile applications instead of queuing at the offices of the government entities. Also, the government will be better poised to offer better healthcare services by introducing immutable electronic medical records.
- Financial Services. The Fantom token (FTM) would offer seamless payment options. Fantom is interoperable with Ethereum, Cosmos, and Bespoke. This feature would ensure Dubai conducts cross-border transactions quickly and securely. On top of this, Fantom would also help the country digitize assets.
- Smart homes
- Education