Global Blockchain specialist firm ConsenSys has been named the official Blockchain Advisor for the City of Dubai. This is the first ever citywide effort to implement Blockchain technology led by the Smart Dubai Office under the leadership of Her Excellency Dr. Aisha Bin Bishr, who serves at the organization’s Director General.

The NYC company will be working in collaboration with government officials along with IBM, the project’s Lead Strategic Partner. The appointments are a key part of the Dubai Blockchain Strategy 2020, a unique mandate by the city of Dubai requiring all government records and transactions to be documented using Blockchain technology.

ConsenSys will advise the Smart Dubai office on shaping how the city of Dubai can be powered by Blockchain. The company will provide a series of full day advisory sessions with government officials to review and suggest Blockchain use cases and provide strategic feedback on the Blockchain blueprint and technical aspects of Dubai’s Blockchain capabilities. All of this work is part of the overarching theme of Dubai’s ambition to become the world’s happiest city, a feat which smart technologies such as Blockchain can help the city accomplish.

Through its past participation with the Dubai Future Accelerator, an initiative that is part of the Dubai Future Foundation, ConsenSys has worked closely with Dubai Holding on soon to be announced full scale projects involving several government entities. This includes highly sophisticated project which will be the first of its kind to be implemented by a government. In addition, ConsenSys has recently rejoined the Dubai Future Accelerator as one of 9 Blockchain companies. Companies in the accelerator include Hyperloop One and Honeywell.

“Once again Dubai has demonstrated its fast forward, yet prudent, approach to defining and delivering services on the Blockchain. In analyzing, selecting and offering government services on interoperable Blockchains, Smart Dubai will dramatically reduce wasted time, effort and resources, and accelerate commerce locally by greatly reducing friction at the interface of business and government and in citizen services and will therefore serve as a model for the world’s civic governance,” adds ConsenSys founder and CEO Joseph Lubin. “ConsenSys is honored to serve as Blockchain City Advisor alongside IBM in their role as Lead Strategic Partner to put government services in Dubai on a more fluid, effective and transparent Blockchain foundation.”

His Excellency Wesam Lootah, CEO of Smart Dubai Government Establishment says of the partnership:

“This collaborative effort is crucial to ensuring that the city as a whole is moving in the same direction, taking advantage of synergies, and avoiding duplication of efforts and costs. IBM and ConsenSys have demonstrated deep technical expertise in Blockchain along with Hyperledger and Ethereum protocols, showcasing a strong commitment to support the development of the technology towards interoperability, a direction Dubai intends to pave the way for globally.”

ConsenSys, a global leader in Blockchain, has established itself as a regional innovator as well through myriad initiatives in the Middle East and North Africa region. Last month at the 2017 World Government Summit hosted in Dubai, ConsenSys presented, “Building the Hyperconnected Future on Blockchains,” a whitepaper the company worked on with the Prime Minister’s Office. The paper offers governments a clear roadmap to harness the power of Blockchain technology.

Jeremy Millar, Chief of Staff of ConsenSys, said:

“The Dubai Blockchain Strategy 2020 is one of, if not the, most ambitious Blockchain initiatives globally. The strength of the partnership between Smart Dubai, IBM and ConsenSys will accelerate this vision. As well as being named Blockchain City Advisor, we are proud to announce the establishment of our Dubai-based regional headquarters, ConsenSys MENA, and encourage other innovators from around the world to join us in this exciting and dynamic environment.” “ConsenSys is thrilled to have established a presence in MENA and look forward to working closely with the Dubai government in the development of the Blockchain ecosystem, while also helping to create a robust workforce in the region,” says Rahilla Zafar, Managing Director, ConsenSys MENA.

ConsenSys is a venture production studio and custom software development consultancy building decentralized applications (DApps), enterprise solutions and developer tools for Blockchain ecosystems, focused primarily on Ethereum. Powered by smart contracts and secured through encryption, our applications provide the benefits of transparency, auditability, and immutability that are unique to Blockchain-based solutions. For more information please go to ​www.consensys.net​.

Smart Dubai is anchored in the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to make Dubai the happiest city on earth. Collaborating with private sector and government partners, Smart Dubai is the government office charged with facilitating Dubai’s citywide smart transformation, to empower, deliver and promote an efficient, seamless, safe and impactful city experience for residents and visitors. Smart Dubai is committed to a collaborative and agile approach to Dubai’s smart city transformation, empowering strategic partnerships with the public and private sector and academia to design and implement services and elevate citywide through leadership, in line with its mission to make Dubai the happiest city on earth through technology innovation.