First half of the year 2018 was bad for the cryptocurrency market but overall it has been good for the blockchain industry. Even with the prices of all cryptocurrency dropped significantly, it did not stop the rising number of projects and companies utilizing the blockchain technology. This is a good sign of maturity for the blockchain world. The adoption of the blockchain is not solely dependent now on the price of crypto but to the underlying technology.

The middle east team based in Dubai has been busy as well promoting the use of the NEM blockchain during the first half of the year. Let us look back and take a quick glance of what has happened the last 6 months.

January

Unlock Blockchain Forum, Dubai UAE. The NEM team was a delegate in the event where they first met PROVER.io, a blockсhain technology for confirming the authenticity of events and facts through the confirmation authenticity of the video on which this event/fact was captured. PROVER now utilizes the NEM blockchain in their applications.

NEM101 Sharjah, UAE. The first NEM101 outside of Dubai was held last January in the emirate of Sharjah whose residents are mostly working in Dubai as well.

February

SADAD Meeting, Manama Bahrain. The team received an inquiry and invitation from SADAD Bahrain, a leading FinTech company in Bahrain who is looking at using NEM’s blockchain to expand their services.

Visit to Dubai Futures Academy, Dubai UAE. Dr.Marwan Al Zarouni, a reputable emirati in the blockchain community in UAE invited the NEM team to witness his blockchain class and was given the chance to speak about NEM to hid audience.

World Government Summit, Dubai UAE. NEM Foundation was invited to be part of the this prestigious event where world leaders and influencers converge for a thought-provoking dialogue and sessions in order to shape the future. Former NEM President Lon Wong was a presenter for blockchain during the event and Regional Director of Southeast Asia Stephen Chia was also present in that event.

Blockchain in Islamic Banking Summit, Dubai UAE. NEM participated in the said Summit and was accompanied by Bankorus during the event. CEO for Bankorus Gregory Van den Bergh presented Bankorus as a use case of the NEM Blockchain in finance sector. Stephen Chia participated in a panel discussion in the later part of the event.

March

NEM101 Abu Dhabi, UAE. Dubai has been the homebase for the NEM101 events of the Middle East team. The team headed to Abu Dhabi for their 2nd NEM101 outside of Dubai in their aim to further promote the NEM blockchain technology in the region. It was attended by few System Integrators who are exploring how to work and adopt the blockchain technology.

Blockchain UA, Kyiv Ukraine. The Middle East team supported the Ukraine team and attended the BlockchainUA. Ukraine has been very receptive of the technology and NEM Ukraine has established it’s presence as one of the key figures in blockchain in their country.

April

Meetings and Preparations. Although NEM did not attend nor hosted a major event during the month of April, the team did attend to the usual meetings and inquiries locally developing leads along the way. April was also utilized to prepare for a major event coming on the first week of May.

May

Future Blockchain Summit, Dubai UAE. NEM was a sponsor at the first official Dubai-government hosted event. This is where Tune Token first met the NEM team. Tune Token has now partnered with Copyrightbank to register the media in Cre8or app. The NEM booth was also approached by Sernez in the same event who is now planning to create their application on the NEM blockchain. During the same event Prover, SADAD, Paytomat and ProximaX where showcased as well as use cases for NEM. Lon Wong was a presenter during the event and discussed the limitless potential of NEM Blockchain and ProximaX. Once again Stephen Chia was present in a panel and discussed the future of blockchain on smart cities.

NEM Meetup, Dubai UAE. A NEM101 was held a day after the Future Blockchain Summit. It was attended by people from the event who wished to dig more about NEM.

June

NEM Technical Training, Dubai UAE. The much needed technical training was held for the first time in the region. Developers coming from different projects attended the event. How to develop on the NEM Blockchain was discussed by NEM Tech Trainers Anthony Law and Shin Tatt Wong.

NEM Introduction, Dubai UAE. The team was invited by a participant during the FBS to her own event. Jasmin Matiga is a leader of a non-profit socio-civic group called Davaoenos UAE. NEM participated in their annual gathering and introduced blockchain and cryptocurrency to the group.

This summary of events doesn’t include local private meetings the team attended to as well as projects that are not yet to be disclosed. More exciting development awaits NEM for the second half of the year which includes more announcement of partnerships which are being finalized at the time of writing. Stay updated of the team’s activities. Follow us on our social media.

Telegram: https://t.me/NEMMiddleEast

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/XEMMiddleEast/

Instagram: @nem_middleeast

Twitter: @NEM_MIDDLEEAST