Dubai has grown from a tiny fishing village to a major trading hub by attracting businesses with near-zero taxes, advanced transportation infrastructure and a secure environment in a tumultuous region.

Now it’s planning another transformation to bolster its claim as the leading center for business in the Middle East—to an economy that relies heavily on blockchain technology.

Blockchain is perhaps best know as the technology behind the digital currency bitcoin, but it can serve many purposes. It uses a digital ledger to efficiently share and track information related to contracts and transactions, the records of which are permanent, verifiable and secure.

The goal of Dubai’s government is to conduct a majority of the emirate’s business using blockchain, which it expects will make government services more efficient and help promote enterprise in Dubai as it will become easier to do business there.

“We want to make Dubai the first blockchain-powered government in the world by 2020,” says Aisha Bin Bishr, director general of Smart Dubai, a government office tasked with facilitating innovation in the emirate. “It is disruptive for existing systems, but will help us prepare for the future,” she says.